SCARCITY OF GILLIES 221 



to whom the destiny of the angler and the fishing 

 can be safely entrusted. It speaks well for the 

 prosperity of the city that there is practically none 

 of the sporting leisure classes, such as one finds in 

 dumping quantity in Ireland and Scotland. There 

 the shoemaker's last and the crofter's hoe are willingly 

 set aside for a day with rod or gun. In Vancouver 

 it is otherwise. One might spend a week in quest of 

 an efficient attendant, and fail to discover him. The 

 makeshift is a person to be studiously avoided. In 

 desperation I picked up one, who undertook to row 

 me to the fishing ground, and to my horror I found 

 he was not acquainted with the elementary principles 

 of rowing. The tide had carried us out for about 

 a mile without particular effort. When it came to 

 facing a cross-current his incompetence was so 

 marked that I had to take the oars myself and row 

 to North Vancouver, where I dismissed him and 

 procured an Indian substitute. 



I was fortunate, however, on another occasion to 

 find an Irishman who was taking a day's holiday, 

 and to whose qualifications as an excellent boatman 

 was added the ardour of an enthusiastic angler. In 

 his hands I was perfectly safe, and I cherish the 

 most pleasant recollections of his skilful services. 



On the first ebb of the tide, we put off, skirting 

 the shores of Vancouver Park, a piece of virgin 

 forest where the finest specimens of Douglas pines 

 are still preserved. The Narrows derive the name 



