Climate of the Canadian West. > 389 
The higher the mountains, of course, the greater must be 
the condensation, because lofty summits are necessarily 
colder than those of less altitude. 
With these general facts in view, let us now enquire as to 
the particular climates of British Columbia, which is to an 
extraordinary degree, a region of mountains and sea coast. 
Vancouver Island and the Queen Charlotte archipelago 
have a climate upon which the inhabitants congratulate 
themselves. They havea mild and even winter, with rain, 
(the annual rainfall is estimated at 45 inches) and occasion- 
ally snow ; an early spring; a dry, warm summer, and a 
clear, bright and enjoyable autumn. Sometimes the frost 
is sufficiently hard to permit of skating, but this is ex- 
ceptional. As arule flowers bloom in the gardens of Vic- 
toria throughout the year. The climate is warmer than 
‘that of England, and the rainfall is periodic—not irregular. 
The summer is decidedly dry, so that dust is one of the 
greatest inconvenicnces in every settlement. But it is a 
curious fact that July, the dryest month on the coast, is the 
time of greatest wet in the interior. Fruits of all kinds in- 
digenous of the temperate climates ripen in the open air, 
air, and amongst them some that are in England brought 
to perfection only under glass. Some of my hearers may 
remember an exhibition of apples, embracing some thirty 
varieties, all of extraordinary perfection, which grew near 
the mouth of the Fraser and were exhibited here in the 
early part of the winter. I have never seen plums and 
cherries to approach in size or flavor those of that region ; 
and fruit culture will surely be one of the leading industries 
in the future of that coast. Thunder storms seldom break 
over the island. They can be heard in the distance but are 
rarely experienced. It is this climate, combined with the 
situation of Victoria, that makes that city so pleasing a 
contrast to those who visit it from the hot valleys of 
California, 
Yet in the Interior of Vancouver Island mountains that 
rise more than 6,000 feet above the sea level not only hold 
the snow the year round, but even bear glaciers of large 
