8 University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 10 



canons below, but we failed to find any of the smaller species 

 of mammals. A string of mouse traps was set out, but with no 

 results, and I could find no runways or any other indication of 

 the presence of either mice or shrews. 



Despard visited the mountain on July 3, and again July 7 

 to 9, and he and I together were there July 14 to 16. 



NOOTKA SOUND 



There is hardly a spot in the Pacific Northwest of greater 

 historical interest than this remote and almost forgotten inlet 

 on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The history of British 

 Columbia practically begins with Captain Cook's discovery of 

 the bay in 1778, while for years afterwards it was the objective 

 point of most of the traders and explorers in the region, and 

 was regarded as the strategic key to the whole northwest coast. 

 The naturalist's interest in the spot is due to the fact that some 

 of the early explorers brought back with them specimens of 

 animals and plants which were new to the scientists of the period, 

 and many species in various branches of natural history were 

 described from examples taken there. 



With the opening up of more promising regions, and the 

 decline of the fur trade, Nootka Sound ceased to be of political 

 or commercial importance, and today the little Indian village 

 of Friendly Cove is probably in many respects very similar to 

 what it was when Captain Cook anchored nearby in the spring 

 of 1778, or as John Jewitt saw it during his two years' captivity 

 there in 1803-5. Except for the infrequent visits of the coast- 

 ing steamer that runs from Victoria up the west coast, and an 

 occasional fishing schooner driven in by stress of weather, the 

 harbor is abandoned to the fleet of canoes belonging to the 

 village ; the only white man residing there at the time of our 

 visit was the storekeeper, though there is a mission there and a 

 priest during the winter months. 



Nootka Sound is enclosed between Vancouver Island and 

 Nootka Island, and the village of Friendly Cove lies on a little 

 spit projecting from the southeastern extremity of the latter. 

 This peninsula is unforested, level and grass-covered, affording 

 a splendid site for the town, while a string of rocky islets extend- 



