II92' dered by us as excellent of their kinds, and ferved to relilh our fait provi-
>__ __ i lions, on which, with a very fcanty fupply of filh, all hands fubfifted.
Amongft the more minute productions, Mr. Menzies found conftant
amufement; and, I believe, was enabled to make fome addition to the
catalogue of plants.
The knowledge we acquired of the animal kingdom was very imperfect.
The fkins of the animals already noticed were fuch as are commonly
found amongft the inhabitants on the fea coafts under the fame
parallel, and towards Nootka; thefe were moftly o f the coarfer and
more common forts. Garments of Tea otter fkins were not worn, nor
did many fuch Ikins appear amongft the inhabitants. The only living
quadrupeds we faw, were a black bear, two or three wild dogs, about
as many rabbits, feveral fmall brown fquirrels, rats, mice, and the
fkunk, whofe effluvia was the moft intolerable and offenlive I ever experienced.
Few of the feathered tribe were procured, although, on our firft arrival,
the aquatic birds were fo numerous that we expefited a profufe
fupply of wild fowl; but thefe were all fo extremely fhy and watchful,
that our guns feldom reached them-; and, on being fired at, they difap-
peared. About the Ihores and on the rocks, we found fome fpecies of
the tern, the common gull, fea pigeon of Newfoundland, curlews, fand-
Jarks, Ihags, and the black fea pye, like thofe in New Holland and
New Zealand; thefe were however not fo abundant as the others. Nor
did the woods appear to be much reforted to by the feathered race; two
or three fpruce partridges had been feen ; with few in point of number,
and little variety, of fmall birds : amongft which the humming birds bore
a great proportion. A t the outfkirts of the woods, and about the
water fide, the white headed and brown eagle; ravens, carrion crows,
American king’s filher, and a very handfome woodpecker, were feen in
numbers; and in addition to thefe on the low projecting points, and
open places in the woods, we frequently faw a bird with which we were
wholly unacquainted, though we confidered it to be a fpecies of the
crane or heron ; fome of their eggs were found of a bluilh call, confi-
derably larger than that o f a turkey, and well tailed. Thefe birds have
remarkably
remarkably long legs and necks, and their bodies feemed to equal in 179a- J 0 0 _ .. . 1 May.
fize the large!! turkey. Their plumage is uniformly of a light brown, 1— —
and when ereCl' their height on a moderate computation Could not be
lefs than four feet. They feemed to prefer open fituations, and ufed no
endeavours to hide or fcreen themfelves from our fight, but were too -
vigilant to allow our fportfmen taking them by furprize. Some blue,
and fome nearly white herons of the common fize were, alfo feen,
The Tea was.not much more bountiful to us of its animal productions
than was its Ihores. The fcanty fupply of filh we were enabled to procure,
confifted in general of the common forts of fmall flat-filh, elephant
filh, fea bream, fea perch, a large fort of fculpin, fome weighing fix Or
eight pounds, with a greenilh colour about their throat, belly, and gills;
thefe were very coarfe, but no ill effeCls were confequent on eating them.
The above, with a few trout, a fmall fort of eel extremely well tailed,
o f a yellowilh green colour, were the fifties We moft generally caught.
A fmall common , black fnake, a few lizards and frogs, together with a
variety of common infeCts, none of which could be confidered as very
troublefome, were the only creatures of the reptile tribe we obferved.
This country, regarded in an agricultural point of view, I Ihould conceive
is capable of high improvement, notwithftanding the foil in general
may be confidered to be light and' fandy. Its fpontaneous productions
in the vicinity of the woods are nearly the fame, and grow in
equal luxuriance with thofe under a fimilar parallel in Europe; favoring
the hope, that if nutritious exotics were introduced and carefully attended
to, they would fucceed in the higheft degree. The mildnefs of
the climate, and the forwardnefs of every fpecies of plants, afforded
ftrong grounds in fupport of this opinion.
The interruptions we experienced in the general ferenity of the weather,
were probably no more than were abfolutely requifite in the fpring of
the year to bring forward the annual productions. Thefe were attended
with no violence of wind, and the rain which fell, although difagree-
able to travellers, was not fo heavy as to beat down and deftroy the
firft efforts of vegetation; Under all thefe favorable circumftances, the
countrv yet labours under one material difadvantage in the fcarcity of
K k 2 frelh