QUEEN CHARLOTTE ISLANDS. 31 B 



width. The surrounding country is densely wooded, and in the valleys 



or where the land forms a fiat border near the sea, timber of magnifi- Fine timber. 



cent growth is found. In the cove at Image Point some rude buildings 



have been erected in connection with the dog-fish fishery, in which 



two persons were engaged at the time of our visit. Half a mile inland 



a few trees have been felled for the purpose of obtaining wood for 



barrels, and a little opening made which enables one to form some 



idea of the straightness and size of the trees composing the forest. 



These are chiefly Menzies spruce (Abies Menzissii), and yield a clean 



white wood of moderately fine grain, and apparently well suited for 



the manufacture of lumber. 



The Skidegate Indian village is nearly half a mile in length, con- Indian villages, 

 sisting of a row of houses, with the usual carved posts, fronting on 

 Village Bay of the chart. A second village is situated on the east end 

 of Maude Island. This is quite new, having been formed by the Kuper 

 Inlet (or ' Gold Harbour') Indians within a few years. 



From South Bay, Skidegate Channel runs nearly due westward Skidegate 

 fifteen miles to the Pacific. Six miles from its western opening it 

 bifurcates, one arm running probably about west-south-westward, and 

 forming an island of the region between it and the main channel. 

 About mid-way from South Bay to the west coast, North Arm runs 

 northward about two and a half miles. From South Bay to Log Point — 

 eight and a half miles — the channel is quite contracted, but two parts 

 of it are particularly so, and may be called the East and West Narrows. 

 The first includes three miles of the channel, which does not average 

 over a quarter of a mile in width, and in one place is contracted to 

 about 200 feet. At high tide this has the apj)earance of being a deep 

 open channel with a few small rocky islands and rocks only, but at 

 low water it becomes almost dry for long stretches, with a small and 

 tortuous water-way between gravelly banks. The West Narrows is at East and West 

 Log Point, is much shorter than the last, and probably not less than 

 two cables in width where least. It is very shoal, however, over a 

 great part of its width, with several rocks in the centre near the 

 deepest channel. The tides from the east and west meet about the 

 East Narrows. The current runs through the channel with great 

 force, probably at the rate of five knots in several places. A small 

 schooner might be brought through Skidegate Channel, passing the 

 narrows at slack water of high tide. She could not be taken through 

 both narrows, however, at one tide, as the slack water lasts for a very 

 short time. The channel can only be considered navigable for boats 

 and canoes. 



At Log Point the channel suddenly becomes about a mile wide, and 

 continues to widen slightly till it opens to the ocean, affording no 



