s, or a ridge or two of rocks rising up above the surface of the
ground. Consequently the cultivated fields are small, and were sneered
at by my Californian neighbours, who are accustomed to vast open
prairies under crop. I have seen one field of 1000 acres all under
wheat in California. But then no other country is so favoured as this
is for all the interests of agriculture.

"The scenery of the inland country around Victoria is a mixture of
English and Scotch. Where the pine (they are all `Douglass' pines)
prevails, you have the good soil broken into patches by the croppings of
rock, producing ferns, rye-grass, and some thistles, but very few. This
is the Scottish side of the picture. Then you come to the oak region;
and here you have clumps, open glades, rows, single trees of umbrageous
form, presenting an exact copy of English park scenery. There is no
running water, unfortunately, but the meadows and little prairies that
lie ensconced within the woods, shew no signs of suffering from lack of
water. The nights bring heavy dews, and there are occasional rains,
which keep them fresh and green. I am told that in September rains fall
which renew the face of nature so suddenly, that it assumes the garb of
spring, the flowers even coming out. The winter is a little cold, but
never severe. I have heard it complained of as being rather wet and
muggy. Frost and snow fall, but do not endure long.

"The climate is usually represented as resembling that of England. In
some respects the parallel may hold good; but there is no question that
Vancouver has more steady fine weather, is far less changeable, and is
on the whole milder. Two marked differences I remarked--the heat was
never sweltering, as is sometimes the case in England, and the wind
never stings, as it too often does in the mother country. The climate
is unquestionably superior in Vancouver."

To resume our description of the coast, the southern shore of the Strait
of Juan de Fuca is described by Vancouver as being composed of sandy
cliffs of moderate height, falling perpendicularly into the sea, from
the top of which the land takes a further gentle ascent, where it is
entirely covered with trees, chiefly of the pine tribe, until the forest
reaches a range of high craggy mountains which seem to rise from, the
woodland in a very abrupt manner, with a few scattered trees on their
sterile sides, and their tops covered with snow. On the north the shore
i