1912] Swarth : Birds and Mammals from Vancouver Island 9 



ing to the eastward, at right angles with the line of the beach, 

 gives the shelter that forms the cove. On the sheltered side, 

 where the town is placed, there is a strip of beach several 

 hundred yards long, composed of coarse gravel in which one 

 sinks ankle deep at every step, but a beach of any sort is some- 

 thing to be appreciated on this rocky coast. On the exposed side 

 of the island is another strip of beach some two miles long, also 

 composed mainly of the same coarse gravel, though in one or two 

 places there are stretches of firm sand. 



At the north end of the outer beach, about two miles from 

 the village, is a large lagoon, opening into the sea and affected 

 by the tides, but with freshwater streams flowing into it at the 

 upper end, and with grassy flats on all sides. About half a mile 

 behind the village, entirely surrounded by the forest, is a shallow 

 freshwater lake, several acres in extent. This pond is described 

 by Jewitt, in the narrative of his captivity, but though he speaks 

 of it as being at that time surrounded by open woods, with no 

 underbrush, at present the banks are so overhung and hidden 

 by willows and salal that it is only at occasional intervals that 

 the water's edge can be reached. Most of our collecting was done 

 about this lake and along the edge of the timber on the outer 

 beach. The whole island is densely covered with good-sized 

 timber and impenetrable underbrush, the salal, devil's club, and 

 other brush forming impassable thickets higher than a man's 

 head. 



There are several large inlets opening from the sound, 

 Muchalat Arm extending due east, Tlupana Arm, northeast, and 

 the Tahsis Canal, due north. We ascended the Tahsis Canal to 

 its head, where we established camp, about twenty-five miles 

 from Friendly Cove. The shores of the canal, as elsewhere 

 about the sound, are rocky and abrupt, except for one or two 

 level spots occupied by Indian shacks, but at the extreme head 

 of the inlet there are some rather extensive grassy flats, and 

 two valleys containing large streams. There is an abandoned 

 marble quarry at this point, and we found a solitary trapper 

 residing here, with whom we made our home. 



This proved to be a difficult place to work, for animal life 

 was scarce, and the forests gloomy and all but impassable. The 



