VANCOUVER IN EARLY DAYS 5

tints of green, azure and sapphire, and most of them
have shores as wild as ever, while the marshes and swamps
that abound in the north have not ceased to be wet and
treacherous. And, above all, the creatures of this glorious
wonderland have not altogether departed from us.

It is true that one or two railways have cut disfiguring
streaks through our mountains .and forests, one or two
cities and towns have sprung up, and here and there,
where man is striving for the stores of gold, silver, copper
and other minerals that lie hidden below the earth’s
surface, the silence and peace of the mountains are broken.
But all these things touch but a small fraction of the
country. There is still a wide field for the adventurous
lovers of nature to wander over and revel in its joys.

The city of Vancouver was at the time of my arrival
here in the spring of 1888 nothing more than a good-sized
village. It was just beginning to be built up again after
having been completely wiped out of existence by a
devastating fire. The railway had not long completed
its struggle to reach the Pacific coast, and the population
of the town could not have exceeded two thousand—most
of whom appeared to be busily engaged in selling each
other sites to build on. What a place it was in those
days! Any streets that were in existence were constructed
of wooden planks, from under which, in wet weather,
passing wagons sent up shoots of filthy water to drench
the unwary pedestrian. The wooden streets and wooden
sidewalks afforded a refuge for thousands of rats, while
the unoccupied areas consisted of huge black stumps,
amongst which were numerous pools of water and small
ponds, from which on warm spring evenings arose a
mighty chorus of frogs singing their evening hymn. Where
the Court House now stands there used to be a fair-sized
pond which was often frequented by wildfowl and occa-
sionally even a stray deer. It was a common practice
for a few of us to go down to where the Canadian National
Railway now has its depot, for the evening flight of ducks,
and many a good bag was made there. But time has
brought about a vast change in these few years. To-day

— en Tis DE re