284 PRAIRIE AND FOREST. 
pounds, but they have been caught weighing over seventy. 
The second kind are caught from June to August, and 
are considered the finest. Their average size is only five or 
six pounds. The third, coming in August, average seven 
pounds, and are an excellent fish. The noan, or humpback 
salmon, comes every second year, lasting from August till 
winter, weighing from six to fourteen pounds. The hook- 
bill arrives in September, and remains till winter, weighing 
from twelve to fifteen and even forty-five pounds. Salmon 
is sold at Victoria at five cents a pound, and there appears 
to be no limit to the supply. 
However, one thing I must not forget to mention is that, 
although the trout of British Columbia, Oregon, and Cali- 
fornia rise freely to the fly, the salmon of the Pacific do 
not—a circumstance to be regretted by all lovers of the 
lithesome rod. 
Halifax—reader, have you ever been in Halifax? Many 
places are less to be admired and less agreeable to live in, 
although I have heard sailors quote the saying, in Old En- 
gland, “ Deliver us from Hell, Hull, and Halifax.” Why 
this condemnation I know not. For my part, I have been 
in many towns less pleasant; the inhabitants are hospitable 
and genial, the society is good, and the ladies have no small 
pretensions to being considered beautiful. Having spent a 
couple of weeks lounging about Halifax with nothing to do, 
at length I decided to go in search of adventure, and, if pos- 
sible, get a few days’ salmon-fishing. 
Having come to this conclusion, on examining the local 
papers, I found that the good schooner Alert, registered 
Al, would sail on the morrow for the Straits of Belle Isle, 
to collect salt fish from the coast, weather permitting ; Xa) 
without delay I hastened to the designated wharf to exam- 
ine the craft, and strike a bargain with the skippet. The 
captain was below, in the cabin, one of the deck-hands in- 
