168 DR. JOHN SCOULER. Comcomli. The old man had conferred his name & au- thority on one of his deceased sons, on his death the name forever ceased to be used among his countrymen as being unlucky & calling to remembrance a lamented chief ; hence it is esteemed cruel & unfeeling ever to pro- nounce it; & when they speak of the deceased chief they say the old man's favorite son, or some such expression. 15th. In my wandering through the woods to-day I met with many Indians, chiefly women & children, who were employed in gathering the young shoots of Equisetum arvense, which is eaten by these people as we do asparagus, & has a similar taste. To-day I collected a considerable number of cryptog- am ous plants, & none of the plants I ever met with on the N. W. coast gave me greater pleasure than Hookeria lanus. I found beautifull specimens of the charming little plant, with its constant attendant, Hypnum Splendens, growing by the margins of a shady rivulet among a brush wood composed of Menziesia ferruginea. This pleasing occurence brought to my memory in a vivid manner, the delightful excursions I had made in a far distant country where I imbibed a love for natural history from the ex- ample of him whose name it bears, & the instruction it was his pleasure to communicate. 16th. This morning I had the pleasure of being in- troduced to Dr. McLachlan [McLoughlin] the chief factor of the H. B. Company on this side of the Rocky Mountains. From him I experienced the utmost politeness & to his kindness was indebted for some curious specimens of the rocks of the Rocky Mountains. 17th. Mr. Douglass & myself made a journey to Tongue Point, about 5 miles from Fort George. Our journey was fatiguing, as we had to climb over rocks to penetrate dense brush wood & damp marshes. Seldom have I made an excursion attended by more interesting results. My vas-
