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rrata
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pelure.

32X

x-/

^^r;

-v

B. C. 188 7.

Crown 8vo, 2s. boards; 2s. 6(i. cloth.

THREE IN NORWAY.

By Two of Them.

Witii a Map and 59 Illustrations on Wood from
Sketches by the Authors.

LONDON :
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.

:^*'

%'nH

■ *Tt

B. C. 1887

A KAMlil.E IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

.1. A. LEES AND W. J. CLUTTERBUCK

AUTHORS OK "THRKE IN NORWAY"

WITH MAP AND 75 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SKETCHES AND PHOTOGRAPHS

BY THE AUTHORS

■^

LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.

AND NEW YORK: 15 EAST i6th STREET
1888

•^// rights reserved

T & 7 '^^ --

268971

HAI.I.ANTYNK, HANSON AND CO.
EUIMUIKUII AND LONI.ON

y H'

"To any person who has all his senses aixuit him a quiet walk
klonj,^ not more than ten or twelve miles of road a day is the
raiost amusing of all travelling. ... If advancin^r thus slowly
Ifter some days we approach any more interesting- scenery,
tvcry yard of the ( hangcful Kround becomes precious and
piquant ; and the continual increase of hope and of surroundiuK
)eauty affords one of the most exquisite enjoyments possible to
|he healthy mind ; besides that real knowledge is acquired of
vhatever it is the ol)ject of travelling to learn, and a certain
bubhmity Kiven to all places, so attained, by the true sense of
[he spaces of earth that separate them." -/vV/.v/v//.

"Keadinj. makes us intelligent and learn about things we
ivould otherwise hear nothing.

" It IS pleasant to recapitulate stories to persons who probably

ave not had the opportunity of reading them, and it therefore

isses many a dreary hour away and makes many a person

•enew his happiness by hoping for such a favourable end as

erne characters as are described in the book.' ^English as she

\s taught.

♦«►

CONTENTS.

CHAI'.

INTRODUCTION .
I. THP: ATLANTIC
II. THK .ST. I.AWRENCK

III. MANNER.S AND CUSTOM.S

IV. FREPAR.VnONS
V. «Y STEA.MER.

VI. THE C.P.R.
VM. THK ROCKIES

VUl. H. C

IX. MOSgUITO CA.MP .
X. CANYON CREEK . ' .
XI. THE COLUMHIA
XII. THE SINCLAIR PASS .

XIII, MUTTON

XIV. THE KOOTENAY .
XV. THE INDIAN RISINC.

XVL CHARR ....
XVII. CANOEINc;
XVIIL SKOOKUMCHUCK .
XIX. CRANBROOK .
XX. LAKE MOOYIE

PACK

•

• • •

. i6

• 24

• 33

■ 42
. 50

• (^3
68

. 76

•

106

• • .

118

'30

145

161

175

189

203

211

Vlli

Contents.

IKAP.

PAGE

XXI. PACKINtJ

. 225

XXII. ON THE TRAMP

. 238

XXIII. KI,K RIVER

254

XXIV. THE SOUTH FORK

. 266

XXV. BREAD AN!) HONEY

• 379

XXVI. HACK AOAIN

• 293

XXVII. OPENINc; OF THE l.ODCF ....

• 302

XXVIII. THE MOOVIE TRAII

3«2

XXIX. YANKEE DOODLE

• 322

XXX. .MUD

IIZ

XXXI. IHE FLATHOWS

342

XXXII. DICK fry's

352

XXXIII. THE N.P.R

362

XXXIV. THE PACIFIC

372

XXXV. EASTWARD HO !

382

' 1 !

PAGE

2 2C

238
254
266
279

3«2

322

333
342
352
362
372
382

^ INTRODUCTION.

WHO.

Till- wise men, we are told, came iVom the East, a fact
^liich is conspicuously apparent to any traveller in
^ose counties which are reached from Liverpool
Street Station. Whither they have gone is another
ibatter not so easily decided, but it seems to be very
natural to suppose that they went to the West.
Througii countless ages the same process has been
going on, and still the wiser ones of our own time
j^ear by year betake themselves to those regions
l^liich, in the words of an eminent divine, are
I bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the
!Qst by the Setting Sun, on the north by the Aurora
iorealis, and on the south by the Day of Judgment."
Ifhus it came about that the writers, seeing no other
lance of commending their wisdom to a too censorious
^orld, determined to try a ramble in the mountains
British Columbia.

But for the benefit of those who may have scanned

: pages of Three in Norway (and survived), it must

confessed that a slight change has taken place.

)hn — good luck to him — is married and settled ; the

[kippor unmarried but settled — in his determination

remain so ; and Esau married but unsettled, and

jarching for a place to settle in, in which quest the

Introdjiction.

1 1 1

! i

Skipper volunteered to assist him. A third com-
panion neither married nor settled was deemed neces-
sary, and a very suitable one was found in Esau's
younger brother, who will be known throughout the
following pages as " Cardie," while Esau himself re-
appears as " Jim," a title which he considers more
appropriate to his present domesticated condition.
Our only reason for using these names is that as they
happen to belong to their reputed owners, it saves us
the trouble of inventing others.

Cardie is long, dark, and good-looking : he lives
absolutely alone in a log-cabin 10,000 feet above sea-
level in tlie Rocky Mountains, accompanied only by a
silver (?) mine rejoicing in the appropriate title of the
" Micawber." As the silver has not yet " turned up,"
he was easily persuaded to make one of the party.
Jim and the Skipper arc, we hope, sufficiently well-
known already.

WHY.

Our object in exploring this little known country
was to test its capabilities as a home for some of the
public-school and university young men who, in this
overcrowded old England of ours, every year find
themselves more dc trop. What arc they and their
wives, the English country girls, to do ? The Girtoii
and Newnham young ladies are of course a sufficiency
unto themselves (and even more than that to most
other people), but what of the not unimportant majo-
rity ? They cannot dig — that handicraft having under
the new Slade Professor been eliminated, we believe,
from the academic course, — their soul is distinctly
unfettered to an office stool ; the Arts, the Profes-

Introduction.

third com-
MTicd neces-
i in Esau's
)ughout the
himself re-
siders more
1 condition,
that as they
, it saves us

g : he lives
t above sea-
sd only by a
e title of the
' turned up/'
Df the party,
icicntly well-

own country
some of the
who, in this
y year find
ey and their
The Girtoii
a sufficiency
;hat to most
(ortant majo-
aving under
, we believe,
is distinctly
the Profcs-

fions, and the Services are all " Full inside," while in
that indefinite article the Stage the " Free List is
Entirely Suspended," and even on the Turf the supply
gf wclshers always seems in excess of the demand.

t migration is the one hope left, and from all the
formation we could obtain in England, the region
selected seemed likely to provide the necessary attrac-
tions for this class of colonists.

■; WHERE.

I A glance at the map will reveal a curious fact in
le physical geography of our only Pacific province,
dmost the whole of the south-eastern portion is
:cupied by three parallel ranges of high mountains —
le Rockies on the east, further west the Selkirks,
nd still further the Gold Range, It is only in the
tfalleys, which in some parts attain to the dignity of
lains between these ranges, that any room can be
)und for a man to live and plant domestic animals
id vegetables, without being in danger of falling off
ledge or slipping into a mountain torrent.
Close to the intersection of lat. 50° and long. 116°
the Upper Columbia Lake, the head waters of the
lighty river of that name, which flows out of the lake
a northerly direction. It will be seen that another
[ver, the Kootenay, which rises in the Rockies north
this point, almost runs into the same lake, the
trip of land which separates them being in fact little
lore than a mile in width. Having avoided that
rcmature termination to his career, the Kootenay
)ntinues his soutiierly course across the border into
lontana and Idaho. There, apparently not thinking

Introduction.

\\\

so much of Republican institutions as those who
have not tried them are apt to do, he takes a sudden
turn northwards, and again becomes a British river
shortly before flowing in placid grandeur into the
great Kootenay Lake. In the meantime the Columbia,
repenting of the precipitate behaviour which led her
to turn her back on the Kootenay in the giddy days
of her youth,, has about lat. 52° made an equally
sudden turn to the south, and arrived so close to
the Kootenay that it is an easy matter for the latter
to simply rush into the arms of his long-lost love;
after which they no doubt live happily ever after-
wards. The result of this coquettish separation and
subsequent reunion is that the land on which the
Selkirks stand would be an island but for the narrow
isthrms close to the Columbia Lake already spoken
of. The guiding principle of our wanderings was
the exploration of as much of this river-girt region
as could be accomplished during the autumn months.

HOW.

The reader is now in possession of all the know-
ledge that we had while on this side of the Atlantic.
If with us he will struggle to the Pacific, he will
obtain various additional pieces of information, the
value of which he is at liberty to estimate for him-
self. We say at once, however, that the seeker after
sporting adventures and nothing else will be dis-
appointed. Rifles and rods were necessarily taken,
but their use was almost strictly confined to pro-
viding food, there being no time in the five months
that were spent on the expedition which could be

Introduction.

^voted to " the chase " pure and simple. Another
[nd more selfish motive (but one which will, we hope,
iommend itself to many readers) for the absence
\i much hunting lore is this : — The country abounds
rith game of various kinds, but except in the winter

is extremely difficult to find places where any
[port can be obtained. We did in our wanderings
Ind out a little about such spots, but knowledge so
iardly won is too precious for publication, and — we
ppe to make use of it ourselves in the near future.
^oila tout.

We ought to say that nearly all of the birds whose
portraits are given are careful pen and ink copies of
Ludubon's beautiful plates. To him and to the artist
rho drew them we hereby express our thanks.

WHAT.

And now all explanations being made, the story
|f the Three and all that they did, and a great deal
lat they didn't, and even more also, will be found set
jrth in the succeeding pages.

WHIRR OO !

i!ll

li ' !

CHAPTER I.

THE A TLANTIC.

iHiNGs looked very promising for a successful start,
rhen, on Wednesday the 27th of July, this note was
iceived from the Skipper : —

" Tuesday.
' Dear Jim, — I shall leave here to-morrow for Liver-
)ol, so as to be in good time for the steamer on
iday. Wire if you want me to get anything. —
Tours ever, Skipper."

Any indication of where " here " might be was
irefully omitted, and as the Sardinian with our
jrths secured was timed to sail on Thursday after-
loon, this missive was productive of much disquietude.
*rantic telegrams were hastily despatched to every
Kddress which had ever been known to act as a home
)r the Skipper drnng his comet-like visits to the
Iritish Isles ; but no answers having come to any of
lem, it was with a sinking heart that Jim approached
le landing stage at Liverpool, about mid-day on
'hursday the 28th. Mournfully he boarded the
;nder, and at once stumbled over a huge pile of what
le Skipper imagines to be absolutely necessar}' per-
|onal luggage.

And then the recriminations commenced which will

The Atlantic.

by any one who has undertaken a Hke expedition be
understood to have continued (with brief intervals for
refreshments) during the next five months. These
encounters, by the way, always terminate with the
satisfactory and cogent piece of argument, " Oh yes, I
know ; but then you're different." However, a mutual
desire to reserve our most telHng rhetoric for really
great emergencies smoothed matters to some extent,
and we were driven into an alliance offensive and
defensive against the comn ': foe — the dock porter.
He, worthy soul, having ( . ing your wrangle with
the cabman captured and carried off every scrap of
your possessions, graciously informs you that the
charge for each article transferred is One Shilling.
This he announces with the assured air of one
protected in a hazardous calling by a special act of
Parliament. Your indebtedness for the porterage of
rug, umbrella, sketch-book, fishing-rod, and cigar-case
is therefore the same as that for the five huge com-
mercial sample boxes which two cranes and a lighter
are with difficulty swinging on to the tender.

Having compounded with this fiend for a sum at
which rate we calculate his income to be about ;^2OO0
a year, and thereby acquired a knowledge of three
distinct novelties in the art of blasphemy, we soon
stood on the deck of what it is usual to call the good
ship Sardinian.

It may as well be said at once that in these days
of improved transatlantic communication the Allan
Line is an anachronism ; but if this word is libellous,
we apologise, and substitute one that is not. For
their own sake, as well as in the interests of the
mother-country and the great colony between which

The Atlantic.

pedition be
ntervals for
hs. These
e with the
" Oh yes, I
sr, a mutual
:: for really
)me extent,
Fensive and
dock porter,
rangle with
ry scrap of
u that the
ne Shilling,
air of one
)ecial act of
)orterage of
d cigar-case

huge com-
id a lighter
er.

a sum at

DOUt ;^2OO0

^e of three
y, we soon
ill the good

these days
the Allan
libellous,
not. For
ists of the
veen which

ley form the most important connecting link, the
Lllan people ought to bestir themselves. Why should
ley not get their fleet up to the same standard of
lodern excellence as that of all the great lines steam-
ig between Great Britain and the United States ?

is probably not too much to say that the inferiority

the Canadian service is accountable for a large
roportion of the preference which is still shown by

n'grants for the Republic as their future home.

Happily we have reason to believe that the
iterprise which has given Canada her splendid
lilway is not to stop there, but that we are shortly

see established a line of swift steamers inferior

none on the ocean in point of accommodation, and
ipcrior to even the swiftest of the present wonders

point of speed. We may therefore confidently look
^rvvard to seeing at no distant date the journey
itween Liverpool and Vancouver City, the furthest
)int by land of the Dominion, performed in absolute
ise and comfort in io|^ days.

It cannot be too often pointed out that with a fast
[tlantic service the saving by this route over all
Ihers (the Suez Canal, the Cape, and Cape Horn) to
ly point east of Singapore is immense. At a low
stimate it will be between England and Sydney two
iys, Brisbane four or five, Hong-kong two, Shanghai
I week, and between England and Japan nearly three
leeks. And not only is the actual distance to all
jese places much shortened, but the climate through-
it is temperate, the land journey is over British
[rritory, and the sea courses are direct and free from
p dangers of coasting navigation.

Having had our little grumble at the Allan Line,

The Atlantic,

which, we trust, as the nurses say, will be a warning
to them, we admit that the Sardinian is a good,
comfortable sea-boat, and makes her thirteen knots
or so with considerable regularity. The state-rooms
are badly lighted and not remarkable for smartness
or convenience ; the attendance on passengers is not
good, the supply of stewards being apparently hardly
adequate ; but she shines nobly in the commissariat
department.

While lying at Moville we studied the intricacies
of this question, the times of the various meals being
a very important — in fact, the only important — matter
on shipboard. We elicited from the steward that
breakfast was at 8.30, but that most of the passengen
took a cup of tea or so and a handful of biscuits
or some such trifle in their cabins before turning
out ; luncheon, with soup, hot meat, and pudding,
&c., at I ; dinner at 5 ; tea, with hot buttered toas;
and jam, at 7 ; " and," he went on with glee at the
growing look of horror on our faces, " supper is served
hot at 9."

Well did Horace exclaim, " Illi robur et aes triple.\
circum pectus erat." Surely that man was fashionec
like unto a three-hooped oaken barrel who first wen;
to sea.

And how did one of us who shall be nameless bea:
his part in the conflict ? Simply by meanly lying ir
his berth for two days and taking no food at all
unless half a pint of champagne may fairly be so-
called. Having thus on the third day got a handicap;
of ten meals in his favour, he naturally was able t(
eat twice as much as every one else for the remainderi
of the voyage, and to traitorously scoff at any one whl

! ii

The Atlantic.

Iggested that feeding-time came round with perhaps
^necessary frequency.

Life on the Atlantic is a dull performance, and it
singular to note how very scarce are the amusing
lisodes, and how very amusing those that occur
bear at the time to be. The passengers, with few
tceptions, were uninteresting, but we had a few
lining ones revolving among us. The greatest of
lese was a Cambridge professor of the very highest
llebrity, who knew everything and divers other

„i',

^■r.-

T*fh* rout fraitftkii '
MUt tui.m'tieu- , ,

Ttiin ^tu mutt'nt ftmt t Mii ciit( f '4$ ^K* f

liters. Before we were two days out he had taken
large of the entire ship from truck to kelson, and

)m the captain down to the Irish baby, and very

ill he did it — for a Cambridge man.

Then we had among the steerage passengers an

^epressible Frenchman in a blue blouse, who before

were clear of the Mersey invaded the sacred soil

the saloon deck. At him went the third officer,

^arlez vous Francais ? " (with an unimpeachable

:ent). Frenchman, with the most affable of smiles,

1 !

The Atlantic.

" Mais oui, M'sieu." " Then (" t/wn " is delicious) yoi^,^
mustn't come to this end of the deci<."

Nor must there be forgotten the dear old bespec-
tacled and chinabowlpipcd German, who seemed to bf
generally lost in profound meditation, and was neve:
able to find his way to the cabin where he and ;
friend were lodged. Shortly before Jim became con-
valescent this worthy Teuton appeared one day in tli

A Terrible Apparition.

doorway of our state-room, and after gazing at hH
in stolid bewilderment for a couple of minutes, r^
marked, " Ach ! Dot aind't you." We regret to sa|
that the untruthful answer he received was, " No, |
ain't ; " but perhaps the trials of sea-sickness are a fail
excuse for bad temper.

Another individual who became of some importance
to us was bringing over to Canada for free distributio
samples of Edwards' De^sicated (or Dissipated) Souij

The Atlantic,

are not quite sure what deisicated means, and

tainly a large number of packages were dissipated

lore we arrived, so we do not commit ourselves to

ler word. We were presented with half a dozen

ill tins of the stuft', and found it about the best

[•table soup we have tried.

'hen there was an exceedingly knowing gentleman

mcertain nationality who informed us in confidence

It he was " not exactly of any profession, something

(ween a solicitor and a broker," but who struck us

being much more likely to be between two police-

And we had several members of the Canadian

team returning from Wimbledon, good, quiet

|ows, with an insatiable appefite for deck quoits

mild poker ; two ladies and several other members

the more selfish sex ; a well-known member of the

ladian Bar ; and some schoolboys going home for

holidays, who, with the last-named Q.C. and a

^y man on special service, were the best company

board.

lothing very exciting occurred. We had the

lal fleet of icebergs in and about the Straits of

peisle ; very beautiful some of them were under a

lliant moon, with their white gleaming snowy

)es and sharp blue pinnacles wherever the bare ice

ild be seen. The announcement of these caused

whole company to clothe their eyes with telescopes,

naked eye being insufficiently powerful to discern

coldness which is an iceberg's most prominent

^racteristic. And how the man with the longest

Sscope lied as to what he could see on the most

lote berg ! A few whales and petrels served to

fak the monotony of the constant dining, and a

T/ie Atlantic.

■ hi'!!

strong enough breeze sprang up in the Gulf of Si |
Lawrence to keep our decks awash and make lands- \
men again of some of the passengers, who during
the mild weather of the Atlantic had developed int[
the jackest of jack-tars.

At last came the customary misery without whic:
no North Atlantic voyage would be complete. Th:'
enemy had threatened all along the banks of New-
foundland, now lying in light smoky wreaths a!
round us, and anon lifting in patches under the gleani'
of a dazzling sun for a few minutes, only to shu
down in greater density for a like period, and the:
perhaps without any warnmg or apparent reason t
vanish as if by magic. Right in the mouth of th-
river there swooped down upon us the coldest, denses
drizzling sea-fog that can be imagined, which, wit
the smoke from our own funnels, made the atmospher
something akin to that enjoyed by travellers on th
Underground Railway, and left the decks and even
thing on them in the filthiest condition of black slimt

Is there a more weird, dispiriting, and God-forsake;
sound in the world than the perpetually recurrin,
wail of a great ship's steam-whistle ? We only know c
one, and that is the miserable though half defiant ye '
of that Ishmaelite the coyote. Fortunately Providenc ~|
has ordained that where the coyote is there th |
steam-whistle cannot be, for anything more suggestiv
of the lamentation of lost souls in Sheol cannot h
imagined. And through it all we could only pac
the slippery deck and grumble, first at th" half-spce
and then the stopped engines, and picture to ourselve
our friends at home, probably lying on the gra-
under the green lime-trees, while we who brave tt|

Gulf of St
make lands-

who durinc
iveloped int:

'ithout whid
nplete. Thf
nks of New

wreaths ai
er the gleam
onl}^ to shu:
iod, and the
:nt reason t
Tiouth of th
Idest, dense
, which, wit:
le atmospher
ellers on th
:s and even
f black slimt
God-forsake;
illy recurrin.

only knowc
If defiant ye
ly Providenc
is there tli
•re suggeritiv
iol cannot h
Id only pac
h*^ half-spce
e to ourselv(
on the gra;
'ho brave tl

T/ie Atla7itic.

ruging seas have to submit to this scene of desola-
tiflBi and utter loneliness, surrounded by misty im-
Ui|n?!ty. Occasionally came the evidence of the
e^stence of other mortals in the despairing cry of
a§Dthcr steamer in like pitiable plight, and then the
fliEful rattle, rattle, bang of the cable, and the change
fplm that awful whistle to the still more exasperating
d||g, ding, ding, ding, ding of the bell, and we were
i^rmed that we were anchored for that indefinite
iod '* till the fog clears."

( i6 )

CHAPTER lii

THE ST. LA IVRENCE.

Most things have an end, and by noon on the 6th c
August we were, with our pilot at the masthead — fo:
the fog only lay for a few feet above the water-
slowly steaming with frequent pauses up the might
river, losing many of our passengers at Rimousk
where the mail tender meets the steamer, and th
inter-colonial railway is available for any one to whor
a few hours are of importance.

The weather kep improving, and soon the woode
southern bank of the St. Lawrence was plainly visib!:
and the air was laden with the delicious scent of tl
pine forests, while the eye was charmed and restc
after the weary waste of waters by the ever varyii
and ever harmonious green and grey of the distar
hills, and the spotlessly white dwellings of the Frenc
Canadian settlers along the shores. Howbeit, we a:
told that much enchantment is lent to the view, ar.
that it is more pleasing *.o every sense to contempla:
these inviting-looking cottages from afar than to for:
a closer acquaintance with them and their inhabitant:
human and otherwise.

Everything except the forests is whitewashed, ar.
a school of whales which accompanied us about th:
period seemed to have undergone the same opera

The Si. Lawrence.

n the 6th c
isthead — fc:
the water-
> the might
it Rimousk
ler, and th.
one to whoE

1 the woode: J
ainly visible
scent of th

and restt
ever varyin.

the distar.
fthe Frenc:
kvbeit, we ai
le view, an

contemplai
than to lor:

inhabitant:

^washed, an
IS about th:
same open

)n, but we can only speak to their appearance, and
is possible that the silvery gleam of their tummies

the water is due to some other cause.

Having prepared ourselves for our experiences in

lerica by a strict course of Fennimore Cooper,

layne Reid, and Mark Twain, we knew all about

(buffler bulls," " bars " and " catamounts," " shooting-

)ns " and " pill-pumps," and were carefully on the

Itch against the well-worn traveller's tales with

lich the native of foreign parts is wont to delude

|e unwary. It was therefore no surprise tc us to

tar the pilot enlarging upon a " bar " that he had

fot a day or two before, and all the lead that it had

:en to do it. We smiled incredulously and dis-

ited it not, but when he presently announced that

thought the mist had cleared enough for him to

joot the " bar " again, and we perceived nothing but

same wide expanse of river, without so much as

)ottle-cork for a " bar " to hide behind, we felt that

was deceiving us. It was only when we saw a
iple of leadsmen in the chains, and heard the cry

7, 6j, 6, 5^-, 5^, and then suddenly 8, 10, 14,
It we realised that the " bar " was the one at the
ttom of the river.

|Life is too short to bother with precautions against
)se miscreants who deem it entertaining to entrap
fcir fellow mortals. When we were in the middle
Itlie gulf, and the nearest coast was 200 miles away,
'^ankee quietly remarked, " Wal, I guess we are quite
[sc to land now ; it ain't more than three-quarter of

lile away nohow." Personally we took no interest

facts of this nature, so were content to sit and
licve, but many excited travellers dashed out of the

The St. Lawrence.

smoking room to have a look at the long hoped for
continent. They presently came back in the worst o:
tempers, and said that the charts and other authoritie;
all declared it to be at least 200 miles away, and then
was certainly none in sight. Then said the champior.
seller, " Wal, I didn't say the shore ; I guess there':
land right under us not three-quarter of a mile away.
These ancient impositions ought to be posted up in i
conspicuous place on every ship by order of the Boarc
of Trade, and any one practising them should b
made to walk the plank.

The last part of the voyage was as charming as ths I
prelude to it was wretched. We left the fog to drearih |
linger far behind us, and instead we had that rarit)
in a Canadian summer, a cloud-flecked sky, givin.
additional beauty to the scene by the shadows whic:
alternated with the most glorious sunshine over lb
rippling water, rocky islands, and steep fir-clad bank;
The whole of the river, after it becomes narros
enough for its shores to be seen, is exceedingl
beautiful with its constant succession of lovel
islands, which, now when the grass has just bee:
cut in patches,, have a most vividly green undergrowt:
and the most: perfect background of hills lookin,
marvellously blue in the evening light, with here an
there a waif of mist still flitting across them. One
by a curious effect of mirage a piece of the river wi
seen high up the hillside, looking so like a lake th;
it was difficult to realise the absurdity of a lake tiltt.
on one side sufficiently for us to see its surface frc
below.

At last we passed on the north bank the splenic
falls of Montmorenci, and soon afterwards came in.

The St, Laiu7'ence.

hoped for|
le worst o;|
authorities I
', and then
e champior,
jess there':
mile away,
ted up in i
if the Boarc
I should b

ming as th;
ig to drearil
I that rarit;
sky, givin;
adows whic:
line over lli
r-clad bank:
mes narroK
exceedingl;
of lover ■
IS just bee:
jndergrowtl
lills lookin,
/ith here an
;hem. One
he river w
e a lake thi
a lake tiltt
surface fro:

the splend:.
Ids came iff,

111 view of one of the three most grandly situated
ties in the world — Quebec. Edinburgh surely de-
jrves a place among them, but who will agree as to
[e third out of Athens, Constantinople, Genoa, Salz-
frg, Granada, and a host of others ? By the time that
big ship had made a circle under the frowning
eights of Abraham, and was lying alongside the
larf at Point Levis, night had come on, and the
|y was outlined from citadel to water's edge with
[inkling stars of electric light, reflected and multi-
fed to our feet by the ripples of the restless river.
Here we lay all night, and here again we had cause
be dissatisfied with the Allan management. Just
fore arriving at Quebec we were told that all luggage
iuld be landed there, and that any one who wished
jgo on to Montreal would have to watch the landing,
prevent his or her property leaving the ship,
this might have been arranged with the greatest
[e during the last two days when we were doing
Ihing in the river, or even provided for by a notice
[that effect and careful stowing at Liverpool, but
jhing of the sort had been attempted. Late at
|ht, by the light of a miserable ship's lantern at
h of the two hatches, the work of hoisting the
l^gage out began, while frantic passengers stood
)lcssly round and clawed at their belongings,
unfrequently getting a heavy trunk dropped on
[r toes, and being reviled for it by the slaves of
capstan.

)ne lady who was travelling by herself was natu-

unable to attend to two hatches about thirty

Is apart at once, so we volunteered to look out

ler behalf. Of course our only chance was to

30'

The St. Lawrence.

stop everything which bore the least resemblance tc
her baggage, as hastily described ; the result was thd
when the last package had been swung on shore
there was to be seen on the deck at each hatch i
heterogeneous pile as big as a haystack, which w-
confidently asserted to be " Miss C.'s portmanteaus,
and as luck would have it she did ultimately succee;
in unearthing from the depths of this loot all of he
trunks save one, a kind of a low one-roomed cottage
on wheels, which ladies take about and imagine to b
a bonnet-box, or some such necessity of existence
This we afterwards heard she ultimately recovered i
Winnipeg, as it was abundantly addressed, and simp!
could not be lost. Even the man who lost the b
drum v/ould have had no chance with it.

We fared about the same, losing in the darknei
and confusion one of our most cherished packages,
box full of the best photographic plates, which
course could not be replaced here, though we we
lucky enough to get very fair substitutes. This b
turned up at Toronto five months afterwards, just
time to give us all the trouble of passing it throu;
the Custom House at Montreal and Liverpool,
naturally we are still anno^'ed at the Allan people a
their want of method.

Quebec has been described and re-described
nauseam. We do not intend to add to its literatu
but Ichabod may be written on its walls, if, as :
apostles of Free Trade teach us, commercial prosper
is the only test of greatness and the only goal fo:
nation's ambition. In vain did hostile armies enca:
against her and pour out blood and treasure to br-
her into subjection, but what the guns of the Frc:

The St. Laiurence.

mblance t(
lit was tha;
on shore
ch hatch ;
, which w
tmanteaus,
tely succet
t all of ht
med cottag
lagine to b
»f existence
recovered \
, and simp:
lost the b;

the darknei
I packages,
is, which
igh we we;
3. This b:
vards, just
ig it throu;
Liverpool,
in people a:

described
its literatu:
lis, if, as :
nal prosper
ily goal for
rmies enca:
.sure to br
of the Frc:

id the devotion of Arnold failed to do, the steam-

Jredger and that potent engine trades unionism have

xomplished. The pre-eminence of Quebec is a

ling of the past, for there is now a low-water

lannel of twenty-five (soon to be twenty-seven) feet

fear up the river to Montreal. While the struggle

^tween the two cities was going on, and Quebec was

till a formidable rival in many branches of the

lipping trade, the final coup was given by her own

)ck-labourers, who one day took it into their sapient

;ads to decree that no man should work under a

rice that seemed good to them in their wisdom.

[hey were not troubled in the execution of their

[let ; this sword thrown into the balance turned the

kale against Quebec ; the shipowners then and there

[rsook her, and Montreal is now beyond question the

)rt of Canada. At the time we lay at Point Levis

^ere was but one solitary barque in the harbour, and

were told that this is ninv quite an ordinary state

affairs there.

Early on Sunday morning we were once more

ider way, and enjoyed the rare delight of a daylight

[uise up the river — as a rule this run is made in the

jht-time — passing numerous places large and small,

with a tidy and prosperous appearance about them,
id getting a very good view of the magnificent water-
ly, with here and there the mild excitement of a
^ssing steamer or a quaint old-world boat, Argo-like

rig, and with a perfectly flat bow like the end of a
frrel, strange contrast to the modern fleet of dredgers

)ored in some obstinate reach of shallows. The

|urse is buoyed or marked with long poles the whole

»y. One cannot but admire the pluck which has

The St. Laivrence.

carried out this splendid enterprise — pluck which
will, we hope, be sufficient to place Canada in the
front rank of nations, if not actually at the head oi
them.

It being Sunday, we had service of a mixed Church
of England and Free Kirk character. The captain
had particularly impressed upon us all that on nc
account must we miss seeing the town of Three

On tkt S'Lcuuence: near Oue6e.c.

Rivers. Owing to the difficulties encountered bv
our worthy " meenister " in fusing the two service-
together, he had only just arrived at '* sixthly anc
lastly," when the whistle warned us that the towr
was in sight. And then did the resource and polite-
ness of the captain rise to the occasion most nobly
the saloon door suddenly opened, and in came ■
long string of seamen whom the thoughtful com-
mander had sent, so that if as he expected the congrc-

The St. Lata roue.

ition proper rushed out of church to look at Three
[ivers, the preacher might not feel slighted, but
[ould still have a room full of eager listeners to

)i:nd away at. Original, and, like all great ideas,
Iniplc, was it not ?

( ^4 )

CHAPTER III.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS.

Thi: tale of the river has been as much and as weL
told as that of Quebec ; and of Montreal we have
nothing new to add : its great Cathedral of Notre
Dame and still greater copy of St. Peter's, its Tubular
Bridge and docks, its Windsor Hotel and its moun-
tain, are all well known to the world, and our stay
there was of the briefest. We had just time U
hustle through a particularly obliging custom-house
part with all the last faithful remnants of our once
large party, and jump into a sleeping car on the
Canadian Pacific (or C.P.R., as it is always callcc
out here) bound for Toronto, where we expected u
get whatever we needed for our up country journey.
The cars on this line are as near perfection as skill
taste, and money can make them ; we have not seer
anything approaching them for comfort on the
American continent, and of course Europe is ou;
of the running altogether in the matter of railwa}
travelling. To understand what an enormous amouii:
of discomfort it is possible to secure by a lavish
expenditure of time and cash, it is unnecessary tc
do more than travel in the best wagon-lits tha.
France and Spain can boast, from Calais down t
Irun and Cadiz, or by the mail from Paris tc

Manners and Customs.

•indisi. Such a journey is about as fit to be com-

ircd with one on the C.P.R. as the speed and

ixury of an ancient mail-coach with that of the

Hsh mail of our own time. Suffice it to say that

lis great railway has been written up, puffed, adver-

5ed, and belauded in the most extravagant terms, and

;t it is really doubtful whether one single word in

cccss of its deserts has been or could be said. The

ily evil fate that could befall it would be a feeling

iat enough had been done for glory, but with the

[en at present at its head there is little fear of any

tus-eating. The C.P.R. will go on as it has begun,

k1 we hope prosper as it deserves to do.

The above paragraph owes much of its inspiration

the fact that when we tumbled into the train in

extremely dishevelled and hungry condition about

jht o'clock at night, Jim discovered that " lunches

served hot on board the cars," and in about five

Inutes he was seated at a table, on which the whole

the fare mentioned on the biH was arranged before

The Skipper had haughtily retired to the smok-

room, and did not know what was going on until

had finished a cigar and spoilt his appetite for

)d, and it was beautiful to hear his lofty remarks

the vulgarity of eating in a train, and the im-

idence of people who ate scrambled eggs and Welsh

rebits just before bed-time — all very improving and

)ral, but somehow reminding the hearer of the Fox

|d Grapes too much to make any lasting impression

)n him. Then the evil-doer turned in and slept

sleep of the unjust until breakfast-time, when

arose like a giant and shouted for more. The

)r Skipper meanwhile having been informed by a

JManners and Customs.

courteous stranger in the smoking car that this wa?
a " sudden " train, was unable to sleep a wink either
from pondering over the suddenness of the travelling,
or from want of food.

Ottawa was passed about midnight, and breakfast
time next morning found us in the Queen's Hotel a:
Toronto, a most comfortable place. Jim had onh
just had breakfast in the train, but meanly making a-
his excuse those ten lost meals on the first two dav;
of the Atlantic, insisted on eating another in tht
hotel before commencing our real work, which was t(
begin here.

Most instructors of the people seem to take it for
granted that every one knows all about American hotels
but as this knowledge cannot really be universal, we |
propose to enlighten the ignorant, and the learnec
may skip this part.

In those which prevail at places of any size, botl
in the States and Canada, you enter by a large hall
bounded at one end by a long counter, behind whid
are the clerks and other authorities. These are very
great swells indeed, and smoke cigars and chew tooth
picks wit;: such a lordly air that you probably fear t:
address tntr,i, and moreover it is very little use to d
so. Yod take your turn with the other arrivals t
write your name in a book of fate which is called tk
Register, and against this the clerk writes your destin;
by the number of a room, hands you a key with tha: :|
number on it, and leaves you to find the room as bes
you can. The most satisfactory method is to kec:
asking every one you meet, which, though annoying t:
them, is on the whole less trying to yourself tha:
wandering up and down miles of passages for a da;

Manners and Customs.

I at this wa?'
wink cithc:
e travelling

\ brealcfast-
I's Hotel a;
n had onh
y making a;
St two day-
ther in th*.
^hich was u

D take it for

irican hotels

iniversal, w

the learnec

size, botl;

a large hall,

ehind whid

sse are ven ;|

chew tooth

)ably fear t;

;le use to d;

arrivals t

is called tb

your destim

ey with tha.

oom as bes:

is to ket;

annoying t:

)urself tha:

:s for a dai

two, and camping out on the stairs. There is no

ICC in most of them where you can sit with any

iilort, as the corresponding apartment to an English

Icc-room is used only for meals, so that you have

spend your indoor time in the hall among the

loke and spittoons, unless you go up to the " parlour,"

lich is either empty and fireless, or else tenanted by

If a dozen ladies in full talking array.

The meals are at set hours, generally breakfast 8

10, lunch or rather dinner i to 2.30, supper 5 to 8.

le man of thrifty mind usually attends them all,

he will have to pay for them whether he eats them

not, the charge for board and lodging varying

^m 8s. a day up to about 25s,, according to the

mding of the hotel. An enormous variety of dishes

[provided, and you are at liberty to partake of them

if you like, and are young enough to do so. A

iakfast carte of the Queen's Hotel will give some

ta of the usual fare, the supper being still more

iborate.

tit and Marmalade.
\ii- — Fresh herrings ; broiled fresh fish ; salt mackerel ;

Loch Fyne herrings ; fish balls ; finnan haddie ; salt

codfish with cream.
\sters.—\<?c\\! \ stewed; fried.
nled. — St. Louis ham ; mutton chops ; kidneys ; sirloin

steak ; English breakfast bacon ; veal cutlets ; calf liver

and bacon ; pork chops ; beefsteak and onions ; tripe ;

(ilasgow beef ham.
Xs' Feet.

ii.<cd. — Kidneys ; corned beef hash ; chicken.
ted. — Veal cutlets breaded; calfs liver; tripe ; sausage.
Ift/^n-.— Fried; Lyonnaise; saute; baked; stewed.

Manners and Customs.

Eggs. — Boiled ; fried; scrambled ; poached; plain omelette
stirred omelette with parsley ; omelette with ham.

Bread. — French rolls ; Graham bread ; white bread ; cor
bread; dry and dipped toast; Graham rolls; homir
Irish oatmeal ; griddle cakes ; maple syrup.

English breakfast tea ; coffee ; green tea ; chocolate.

But if you happen to anive at the hotel late a;
night or between any of the fixed meal-times, yo.
can get nothing to eat until the next one comes rounc
which is distressing to the last degree. There i:
generally a cigar-cum-newspaper-and-novel shop, ;
barber's, and a bar in the hall or somewhere near i;
which in wet weather is convenient.

When leaving, you pay your bill at the counter i:
the hall, and are not pestered for tips by the waiters
but if 3''0u wish to get any attention from thes:
coloured gentlemen, it is advisable to commence yoi;:
career by the presentation of a dollar, as they do nc
understand the English custom of tipping after favour:
received. On the whole, however, there is not th:
same necessity for this as in England, as the whit:
men, with very few exceptions, will not take money
though they are not too proud to allow you to stan.
drinks.

The American village hotel is a very differer
institution : its cheerlessness can hardly be imaginec
There is only one public room, which is generally fu.
of roughs, in the spaces between the spittoons. 1
has a stove in the middle, and smells unpleasantly :
wind proof ; but if, as more usuali^y hr,ppens, its wall
are largely composed of cracks held apart by log;
the draughts whistle through the apartment with a:
intensity unknown to good stay-at-home people. Eve

Manners and Cnstoms.

)lain omelette
^ith ham.

bread ; cor
oils ; homir
up.
ocolate.

hotel late a:
\l-times, }'c.
comes rounc
There i:
)vel shop, :
here near i;

[6 counter i:
the waiters

from thes-
uujieiicc yoi;:

they do no:
after favour:
e is not th:
as the whit:
take monev
you to staiii

ery differei;
be imagincL
generally fa
Dittoons. 1
ipleasantly:
:?ns, its wal:
art by log-
lent with a:
iople. Eve

^ou are lucky enough to get within reach of the stove,
only chance of keeping your circulation unfrozen
I to warm one side at a time, while the other one
)idly drops below zero.

The lowest depth of all is reached in the " saloon "
the western " city " or miner's camp. This is

30 "xdi from everi^wUrc

Imply a drinking-shop, where very ardent liquids are
ispensed at a price which one would suppose would
ipidly Lad to fortune. No doubt it would do so,
^ere it not for the proprietor being compelled to drink
much of his own merchandise as a guarantee of

1^'

Alanners and Customs.

good faith, that his constitution always " caves in " juj
before affluence is attained. A saloon seems to b;
the very first need of any civilised community ou;
West • in fact we passed one place which consiste:
entirely of a saloon, the rest being left to the imagiii:
tion. In this instance the building was a log-cabi.
about eight feet wide by ten long, and more than tli
whole of its facade was occupied by a board on whic;
an ambitious painter had over-reached himself i:
endeavouring to instruct the world in ^he very larges; '^*^'''^

d(
all

'ail
thi

fii

gir

•a • -^n sequent!;
oi tne spiritec

type. The termination of the wore: '
somewhat inglorious and unw^orth^
beginning.

It is at such places that most of the rows comment:
which occasionally chase away the ennui of a back-
woods life.

One of these, alluded to by the journals of the place
as " Another shoot on," came under our notice in the
most interesting way on a previous journey. W't
were disturbed from our peaceful slumbers b^> ;ht
report of pistol shots a' out two in the morninu fmc
found that a certain saloon keeper called P: .r (
don't print his other name, as he is quite CL,">abk
coming over to scalp the publisher of thib work; '
had an altercation with his next-door neighbour, anoilK.
gentleman in the saloon profession. Mr. Dave w;;
in his tamer moments a most agreeable a% • desirable
companion, and had been extremely civil to us, but hi:
spirit could not brook restraint, and during the night
his annoyance had developed to such a •''^j^ree oi
wrnth that he felt it incumbent on him to poinl out .^
his opponent the error of his ways. This he did by
taking a revolver in each hand, and having broken in

ere
ate

tov
tcre

ck(
re c
eea

let;

\vi

hill
The
a'

tte,
o I
ilc

ily

as
.s s

Manners and Cnstoms.

:aves in juj
seems to [■
nm unity oi
ch consiste;
the imaging.

a log-cabi:
lore than th;
ard on whic;
I himself i;

very larges;
• •'uisequentl:

tne spirite;

vs commenc:
of a back-

of the plact
otice in tht
Lirney. Wt
bers bv >!it
lornin- r:;:
d P: .T <:.: ,

^ ft

work; ' '^■'^
)Our,anoihci

Dave \v;-
desirable
) us^ but hi:
ig the nigh:

'''j^i'ee o:
po:V'. -.a .'
s he did by

broken in

tHfdoor and windows of his neighbour's house, fired
off all the barrels of both pistols at the unfortunate
in#i and his bar tender. Being luckily in a somewhat
advanced stage of intoxication, he produced little effect
bjrthis; so going back to his own abode, he reloaded
attf lii'etl ^'^ the house, as being easier to hit than two
joHging men, until he was tired. Next he again
«ilP_.jd the house, and in the most affable manner
poiiinded his adversary's heid with the butt of a
ri^jolver, and smashed all the smashable furniture to
w the impartiality of his feelings, after which he
artcd with the same perfect absence of ceremony.
^^When next morning we looked at the house, which
exactly opposite our hotel, its front was pretty well
'ercd with bullet-marks and holes ; and its unfor-
atc owner's face, or what could be seen of it for
towel in which it was huddled up, wa; considerably
tcred. One of Dave's men Vv'ho had assisted in the
cket " had been arrested, but the public deemed it
ire discreet to leave Dave himself alone in his then
eeable humour. We were told not to suffer any
icty, as it Vvab already pretty well understood that
witnesses would be all right (for Dave), and that
hiiig particular would come of it.
he manners and customs of these wild communi-
arc strange indeed. In the samp place (North
tte, Nebraska) we went to hear the trial of a man
o had shot another one through hi?, own door,
ile the poor fellow was sitting w'tli his wife and
ily. The prisoner's counsel was addressing the
It for the defence when we entered. He struck
as being a very able advocate, but his appearance
,s scarcely dignified. He was dressed in a brown

Manners and Cttstoms.

shooting coat with a velvet collar, and he wore :
collar or tie : he had a quid of tobacco in his chee,
and kept spitting on the floor between his sentence
which were delivered in a most impressive and son:
rous tone. Many spectators were seated round abc,
the court : all who were not smoking were chewi:
and spitting anywhere about the floor — a habit whi;
goes further to render a Britisher's life miserable
America than all their othe" customs put together-
and most of them had their feet on the backs of t;
row of chairs in front of them. A notice was postt
on the wall requesting gentlemen " to pocket t:
stumps of their cigars and not throw them on t:
flooring." The part of the room devoted to busine;
was railed off from the rest, much after the fashion
a chancel in a small church, and within this rail ti
jury were lolling about in what the Skipper called i
extremely degagc'e and decoltce manner. There w;
no question of the guilt of the prisoner — in fact h;
counsel in defending him began by assuming enoiK
against him to get him penal servitude for life; b. ,
the upshot of it all was that as usual he got oif sc
free.

We did not chance upon anything of the kir
during our stay in British Columbia, but are told tli:
justice there is a very different thing from our expcr
ence of it in the States, and that any one indulgii
in the luxury of shooting a fellow creature is almoi
as likely to test the strength of a rope as he would 1
in England.

he wore ■
in his chee
his sentence
ive and soi
1 round abc
were cliewi:
a habit whi
I miserable
it together-
backs of t;
:e was postt
3 pocket t;
them on l
d to busine:
:he fashion
this rail t:
per called ■<.
There wi
— in fact 1::
ming enoii[
for life ; I
got off sc

of the kii
are told th;
1 our expcr
ne indulgii
ire is almc
he would [

( 33 )

CHAPTER IV.

PREPARATIONS.

this time we are forgetting Toronto ; but our

there was short. If the reader will kindly

igine two days of really hard shopping — groceries,

tridges, a tent, fur-rugs, and blankets being the

jt important requisites — he will get a pretty accu-

idea of what we saw of the town. It is, how-

[r, a first i.^'te one as towns over here go, barring

I mud, which appears to be composed of Portland

lent and glue in equal proportions. It would,

)rding to our notions, be an improvement to the

^earance of the streets if a glimpse of the sky were

[e and there allowed to be caught through the fabric

ilcctric wires which pervade the atmosphere. The

ly sparrows have given up trying to fly, and now

ftiously walk about from place to place on the net-

•k like Wainratta.

hic evening we boated upon the lake and crossed
^r to an island — " The Island," in fact — which is
)osite the town, where dancing, singing, and high
:s and junketings generally seemed to go on with
\at spirit. But as Mr. Burne Jones says, " How
y vex the soul." They did ours, for we lost no
than two shillings in trying to perform an
iurdly easy feat which we have never seen at

Preparations.

English festivities of a like nature. A table
marked out with many circles about six inches i
diameter, as closely as they can be drawn. The plavt
is provided with half a dozen metal discs of the sat:
size as the circles, and all he has to do — a ridiculoi
all — is to cover up one, only one, and any one outt
all those circles with his six metal discs, throwing the:
from about a yard away. When other trades fail, w
know a certainty now, which is to be a proprietor
one of these unhallowed boards. We suppose there.
not a more impossible thing to do in this wide wor
than to obstruct the view of even half one of tho-
magic rings ; and yet it seems so easy.

Toronto is characteristically English as compare
with the utterly French Quebec and the Angl
Frenchness of Montreal. It is a nice place to st£
at : there is plenty of society more nearly approachii
to that of home than as far as we know any oth;
Canadian city can boast, though any traveller knov
what a vast difference there really is between t:
social composition of England and that of even t:
closest imitation, not always, however, in favour
England. There is tennis and boating in sumnit
and in winter ice-boating, snow-shoeing, tobogganir.
and all the well-known sports which we associate w;;
the name of the Dominion.

Jarvis Street is one ot the very prettiest roadwa
in the world : an avenue of well-to-do dwelling houj
all standing back a long way from the road, with i
sweetest of English gardens and lawns in front, :
two houses being alike, and all vying with each otl
i'-. quaintness and picturesqueness of design. On
blazing day, such as was now making life almost i

"»

Preparations.

A table il
X inches ri
The play.
of the saiT
-a ridiculoi ^
y one out
rowing tk
ades fail, v
proprietor
pose there
3 wide wor
one of tho.

as compare
the Angl
place to sU
f approachl:
)W any otli:
veller knov
between t:
of even t:
in favour
in sumni-
tobogganir.
ssociatc \v:.

est roadwa
elling hou-
Dad, with t:
in front,
h each oti
sign. On
fe almost u

ipportable and very thirsty, it was a real treat to
ilk down this shady street for a mile or so, and
ize at the refreshing green lawns and bright flower-
ids, from among which often came the tinkling plash
a little fountain, while from lattice and verandah
;nse masses of cool feathery climbing plants hung in
itoons, lighted up here and there by brilliant clusters
blossom.

Nor must we omit the important fact that they have —

had — a pack of foxhounds. A good many years ago

were here during the season, and hearing that a

mt was to take place, we went forth to the chase,

it be whispered only, in a " shay." The meet

IS fixed for 3.30, to suit the convenience of business

Ml, and was at the only real public-house that we

fer saw in Canada, with a real signboard swinging

the breeze — a most unique specimen, for here

[ery pothouse calls itself an "hotel," and most of

first-rate hotels are dignified by the title of

louse." There were about thirty horsemen, and

jfew other shays had come like us to see the fun.

icre are no bad horses in Canada, and though those

the meet were not hunters, they were a very neat

[d shapely lot of good-looking hacks : but the men,

me ! Tautz and Lock would have torn their hair

|th envy and despair ; and the fancy-free methods

equitation of some of them were indeed a wild

Mrd sight. The master was correctly costumed in

ik, and riding a bay horse lately imported from

land. And now we must confess that the object

pursuit was not invariably a fox, but when it zvas

jfox, then he was brought in a bag, as the lateness

the hour gave no time for drawing coverts, or any

Preparations.

subterfuges and interludes of that nature. On thiil
occasion the more humble red herring was, we believe
the quarry we were after.

Another difficulty in carrying out the sport in oln
country fashion is the form of fences peculiar to th-
country. They are composed of several heights c
huge split rails, and present insurmountable obstacle
to any jumping horse. We think the object of the::
existence must be to prevent any creature gettir,
over them — unlike our English fences, which we be-
lieve to be constructed entirely for the maintenanc
of gaps, for there can be no question that the da
which sees the last fence will also witness the ex
tinction of that great institution the gap. Therefor
the sportsmen who run the drag take care to remov
a certain number of the rails of each fence they crosi.
so that every jump is made of a legitimate and cor
venient elevation — in fact, not too much obstacle, bi
just obstacle enough.

Soon after wc arrived on the scene, an agreeabi
old gentleman of sportsmanlike appearance came c
and entered into a description of the whole propose
run for our benefit. We soon discovered that b;
imagined we were two direct descendants of Poii|
ponius Ego, and were out here for the special purpo::|
of describing for an English newspaper a run of t:
Toronto Hounds. The Daily Ncivs of all papers v
believe it was ! It was of course useless to deny i: |
he politely assented, but continued in his descriptic
of all the principal performers, and kept close toe
carriage all the afternoon, so that we might always;
in the best place for observing the chase. This bcr
volent intention we regret to say caused considerat

Preparatmis.

2>7

-. On thii
we believe

sport in ol:
;uliar to th
. heights (
Die obstacl'
iject of the;:
ture gettin.
hich we bt'
maintenanc
;hat the da
less the ex
Therefor
re to remov
e they crosi
ate and cor
obstacle, b:

an agreeal!
nee came i;
lole proposi
:red that \.
Its of Poi:
ecial purpo:
a run of t:
all papers v
s to deny i
is descriptk

close to ^
ht always ;
This ben

considerat

•feeling between him and our driver, who imagined
knew quite as much about the matter as his self-
bointed mentor.

Tiie hounds went right away for a quarter of an

Hir's sharp burst at the start, then there was a

^ort check, and amid frantic excitement they went

at score again : our old friend, after galloping

idly up and down the road for some time, and

barrelling with our driver till we were nearly dead

suppressed merriment, selected a spot where he

[d ascertained the drag had crossed and the fences

ire reduced to a practicable condition. Then pre-

itly we were gratified by the sight of the whole

[Id, who, led by the master in a most masterly

inner, leaped into the road with an air which showed

It they felt that the eyes of England (as represented

two Daily News reporters) were upon them.

id then as a fitting climax, the first whip jumped

his horse and handed round his hat to the

jctators in the carriages, as who should say, " Now

I't that beat a circus ? But you don't see all that

nothing, you know."

IWe drove home much impressed by the sport of

[nada known as " foxhunting," and wishing that the

^ily News myth had had a solid foundation, for truly

experience was well worthy of a penny-a-liner's

Mition.

jDoubtless things have changed much since those
^s ; they have a knack of doing most things well
[Canada now.

[One noticeable feature everywhere is the absence

mongrel dogs ; dogs are plentiful enough, but

lost without exception seem to be exceedingly well-

Preparations.

bred English types. Setters are the commonest,
Irish, Gordons, and Laveracks ; pointers fairly nume-
rous, mostly the old liver and white ; spaniels we saw
of several kinds, the Irish water spaniel and Susse.
being the most popular ; and a few terriers, retrievers,
and collies, but not a bad bred dog among the lot
And this is a pretty good illustration of the modcrr
Canadian method. They believe in their country, anc
think that any money spent now in pushing her t:
the front will be a safe and before long paying invest
ment.

It is a pity that all English Prime Ministers ar>
not compelled to visit our colonies, and thus get t-
understand for themselves the strength of the lovt
for the old country, which, like some of our native
trees, seems to flourish in the new soil with a vigour
unknown at home. We did not come out to talk
politics, but could not help hearing the opinion o
many Canadians ; and the intensely loyal and patriotic
feeling common to all classes would surprise our
"Perish India" school of politicians. We did meet
one specimen of the " Down with heverythink " anc
" Rightly struggling to be free " type, but we do no.
know whether even this man's opinions were the
same when he was sober, for we only saw him twice.

To us who know the devoted reverence with which
Mr. Gladstone is still regarded by numbers of hi-
fellow countrymen, it was strange to notice his uni-
versal unpopularity (to use a mild term) here. The
desertion of Gordon seems to be the unforgivabl-
offence which has aroused and kept alive so long thi
indignation of a warm-hearted people, in curious con-
trast to the apparently slight effect it had at home

Preparations.

commonest,
"airly nume-
iels we saw
and Sussex
1, retrievers,
ng tlie lot.
Lhe modcrr
:ountry, and
ling her to
ying invest

inisters ar-:
thus get to
of the love

our native
ith a vigour
put to talk

opinion o:
nd patriotk
irprise oii:
e did mec:
think " am

we do no:
were the
him twice,
with which
ers of hi;
:e his uni-
lere. The
nforgivab:
so long th'.
Lirious con-
1 at home

e came on a lonely hunter in the heart of the
ockies who was what they call " ripping and cussing
ound " in a very excited state, and we found he had
ly just heard the story of the Egyptian Expedition
m one of the voyageurs who took the boats up the
lilc. Me wanted to know what England had done
out it, and why somebody responsible hadn't been
nged ; but as we could not enlighten him on these
ints, we fear he is still in the same unpleasant state
mind.

Art is the great agency for refining and subduing

gged natures. We are not quite sure that we

ere the first discoverers of this truth, but it was

csistibly borne in upon us at the Queen's Hotel.

n the walls of the entrance hall were many paint-

gs, exceeding fine and large, and of surpassing

terest. A Yankee, who, like us, was reposing after

c fatigues of luncheon, suddenly got up and criti-

lly surveyed one of these pictures with an admiring

c. Then he stuck both his hands as far as possible

to his pockets, and pushing the inevitable quid over

to his left cheek, turned to the Skipper and said.

That, sir, is a remarkably fine work." The Skipper

t venturing to disagree, he continued, " Jest observe

e light in the top of that lighthouse ; looks nat'ral now,

n't it ? Wal, if that ain't high art, I'm beat" After

is, he gravely retired, and whistled softly to himself;

d as we watched him gazing vacantly at his boots,

e felt that the light from that painted beacon had

netrated his very soul, and in conjunction with the

ntemplation of the blacking, filled his troubled

east with a calm which the quid alone had failed

induce. And he returned to the consumption of

1 \ >■

Preparations.

his tenth " whisky sour " with a placid joy hithcrt
unknown to him.

The S3'stem of checking baggage, though we by n
mcins regard it as an unalloyed blessing, is certainl- |
cr.rried to great perfection. Each piece has attacht
o it by a strap a disc of brass with a number on i:' 1
and the name of the station to which it is consignee;;
while the owner is provided with a correspondiiii:
disc, on production of which the property will b-
delivered up to him at his destination. At many o
the good hotels you can check your baggage t(
another hotel say looo miles away, and thus removt |
all thought and anxiety on its account from you:
mind till you find it safely reposing in your ncx; |
bedroom. The only inconvenience at this causcvjl
is that you cannot get at your p ny anywhere I
between the two ends of the checked journey, bu: f
a man soon learns to obviate this by packing all tha: |
he can possibly need in one bag, and taking tha:
"right along on the cars."

There is nevertheless another really terrible ob- 1
jection to the American management of baggage : i: J
is that only trunks which are constituted of aboutf|
the same durability as a burglar-proof safe have am|
chance of surviving even one journey. It is a solicL
fact that a new leather portmanteau is sometinie:|
reduced to a mere shapeless mass of pulp and rivet;^
in about lOOO miles, if changed fairly frequently fron'^
one line or even from one baggage-car to another |
The men who look after this part of the busines;
hurl things about in the most light-hearted anci
unsparing way, and we think the check system is to|
some extent responsible for their conduct. No man|

Preparations.

oy hitlicn

h wc by 11
is certain!
las attacln
imber on
consignee
rrespondin.
rty will b
At many (
baggage t
bus reniov-
from yoi;:
your ncx
this cause
1 anywhcr
)urney, bi::
ing all tha
taking tha;

Itli a heart could beiiave so were he surrounded by
le appealing and agonised faces of portmanteau pro-
fictors, as he necessarily would be if travellers were
kligcd to keep an eye on their belongings. Morc-
rcr those travellers would be willing to give untold
rgesse rather than see their beloved treasures cata-
lltcd about exactly as if they had been intended by
Itiirc for destructive missiles.

errible ob-
aggage : i;,;
of abou!:^;
2 have anv3
t is a soli(i|
sometime:!
and rivetj;
lently frorcf
o anotherj
e businessi
carted anci
stem is d
No marl

( 42 )

CHAPTER V.

BY STEAMER.

One advantage of travelling in Canada is that so many
of the people one meets hail from the " old country "
— as Canadians and also Americans almost alwavs
call the British Isles — and very often it happens that
just as some small but vexations delay has arisen,
there comes to the rescue a total stranger, who, in
some extraordinary way, knows all abo it you at
home. Our baggage difficulties were smoothed in
the first place by a most obliging permit from the
C.P.R. to carry as English travellers just twio
what we were entitled to. Later at Toronto Station
when there was absolutely no time co get it all
through, the baggage master suddenly discovered
that the Skipper and he came from near the same
obscure village in Wiltshire, — a place which they
both fondly imagined to be a town, — and in a
moment all the vast pile was checked and safely
deposited in the car. This was a great piece of luck,
as this official, though in reality one of the most good-
natured of mortals, is a perfect terror to late arrivals,
and if he had been obdurate we must have lost three
days' time in waiting for the next steamer.

There are two routes during the summer by which
it is possible to get from Montreal to the West, aiui

ly Steamer.

[he C.P.R. give passengers the choice. One is through
)ttawa to Toronto, and thence to Owen Sound on
.ake Huron, where a steamer twice a week awaits
[he train and carries its freight, animate and inanimate,
lip to the western shore of Lake Superior, meeting
ilic main line again at Port Arthur. The other is all
Kiilroad along the northern shores of the lakes, and
[akes about a day less to do, but is naturally much
lotter and dustier and more generally unpleasant in
jiimmer than the steamer route. In winter there is

'\>fer.— "

,/ C.P.R, Lake Steamer.

}\o choice, as the lakes arc ice-bound from about the
lend of November till the general breaking up at the
lend of spring. Time was not of the utinost importance
Ito us, so we chose the lakes, and never regretted the
jdccision.

A few hours easily passed in a comfortable Pull-

Iman took us to Owen Sound, where to our surprise

quite a huge steamer of oceanic appearance was

[ready to receive us. This was the Alberta, about

:ooo tons register ; she and her sister the Athabasca

I I

By Steamer.

have been built on the Clyde specially for this service!
and are as good specimens of the modern floating
hotel as it has been our lot to see. The design
rather curious according to European ideas, the whokl
of the upper deck being roofed in and made into ontj
huge saloon. The state-rooms are all along the sidesl
of the saloon, each with a large window, but the saloor.l
, itself can therefore only be lighted from the top,
Running round the structure, ix. between the state-j
rooms and bulwarks, is a narrow passage whidj
might fairly be called a verandah, but there is noj
deck at all in our sense of the word, except a vcr.
small one right in the bows where the forecast!:
ought to be, and a still smaller one aft. The roof of th
saloon holds the boats and what little rigging ther
is, but is not available for walking purposes, so 30
must either promenade inside the saloon where yr
can see nothing, or sit outside, for the verandah is to
narrow for two persons to walk abreast. The whed
house and bridge are perched on the forward end c
the saloon. Inside the rooms are large and beau:;
fully clean and comfortable, the saloon as luxuriousl
fitted as any one could desire, the whole ship lavishly
lighted by electricity, and the food really excellent.

At the risk of being supposed to think of nothing
else, we give a dinner menu ; and then after or
luncheon later on we will refrain from tormentiii«
the reader with glimpses of that T^aradise which li
is not allowed to enter. Please to observe the lovch
mixture of English and (culinary) French.

iiiiili

By Steamer.

S.S. Alberta, Aug. wth.

b;///.— Puree of Peas ^ PAnglaisc.

\ish. — Lake Superior white fish, with matelotte sauce.
oikd. — Sugar-cured ham ; chicken ; parsley sauce.

i'^w/. — Loin of mutton — onion sauce; sirloin of beef;
ox-heart- — mushrooms ; spring lamb — new peas.

rr'/(/ J/nw/j-.— Roa.st beef; beef tongue; corned beef; ham.

■"///mx— Apricot fritters ; Glace au Rhum ; salmis of spring
duck ; veal cotelettes ; Saute a la Napolitaine.

J'rt'A?^/.— Sliced tomatoes ; German salad.

''^ei:iialh'cs. — Mashed and new potatoes; new cabbage; new-
beets ; string beans — cream sauce ; new green peas.

\utry. — Blueberry pie ; lemon pie ; cabinet pudding ;
wine .sauce ; Madeira jelly.

~>esscrt. — Water melons ; English walnuts ; almonds ; fil-
berts ; bananas ; figs ; oranges ; jelly cake ; raisins ;
sponge cake ; fruit cake.

The charge for this and everv' other meal on the

'.PR. is three shillings; and .i;* ugh of course no
hie wants to eat three such meals a day. it must be
lonfcssed that you can get your moneys worth at
[acii of them, if you give your mind to it, regardless
>f the consequences.

The engine-room on this boat contains the pi'»st
brgeous and dazzling aggregation of pipes and
[vlinders that we ever beheld. Even the Skippt v,

•ho hates mechanism of any description, was
[ntranced by their beauties that he spent most of
lis time in gazing at them. Apparently they keep

iree or four extra hands employed in nothing but
Mishing and burnishing, till the engines look much

lore like the jewels of Aladdin's enchanted cavern

By Steamer.

than the sober hard-working slaves who transpor
him and his palace from place to place. The pad
is nothing extraordinary, about twelve or fourtecrj
miles an hour, but the vessel is more free from un-
pleasant vibration than any we have travelled in
up in the saloon the revolutions of the screw werJ
absolutely imperceptible unless one took considerablt|
pains to detect them.

Again we had what they call here a " streak " oj
good luck. Watching from the verandah the shipping
of our goods and chattels, we were horrified to serj
that the faithless grocer in Toronto — m,ay dogs devourj
his grandfather's beard — had packed our most preciouij
supplies in a rotten box, and the whole thing onlyjus:j
survived the perils of the gangway, and collapsed, :|
mere rope-bound collection of atoms, on the lower deck!
A stern refusal met our entreaties to be allowed t(|
repack it : it was checked, and must not be touched
till it reached Golden City, 2000 miles away ; it-,
chances of doing so in that condition being absolutely!
worthless. Once more our good genius sent a frienij
in the nick of time, this time a Lancas^hire man, whcj
had charge of the hold ; and aided by him we soorj
had all our stuff (excellent Biblical word this) securelvj
repacked in an unbreakable cask with which he pro-|
vided us.

This episode served to wile away a good portion o:j
the time, which otherwise would have passed somewha:!
slowly. Although this ought to be the hottest time
of 3'^ear, it was on these lakes undoubtedly very cold
ind also inclined to be drizzly. For the I'rst day
nothing could be seen owing to a chilly Scotch mis'j
which obscured the glorious views which we are tolfll

By Steamer.

Ire to be enjoyed in favourable weather. In the
larly mcirning we left the lake and steamed along the
iarden River, passing a good many Indian lodges
^f the ^^ miliar conical shape on the banks, their
[ides apparently formed of mats or large sheets of
)ark.

We had a Despicable Person on board who devoted
jis time and presumably his brains to the manufacture
)f wit, as thus — " You're on Lake Superior now."
^oUtc Stranger. — " Pardon me, sir, you are mistaken ;
liiis is Lake Huron." The D. P. — "Yes; I only
^aid Huron is a superior lake." Polite Stranger. —

D "

In due course we arrived at Saulte St. Marie, which
Is pronounced Soo, and indeed is now pretty commonly
jpelt and alluded to as *'the Soo." Here is the junction
)et\veen the two great lakes, and as there is a con-
siderable difference in their levels, a lock has been
constructed which is said to be the largest in the

/orld, and is certainly a very fine specimen of what
iiodern engineering can do in that branch of its work.
[t is on the American side, and is the only place at
vhich Canada is still dependent on her great neigh hour
for assistance in transferring her commodities from
md to end of her domains. Wr e the missing link is
10 be supplied by a new canal and lock on the

Canadian side, the works of which were in progress as
jvve passed.

One way and another it took about an hour to get
the Alhcrta through the lock, and we amused ourselves
)n land during this period of inaction. The great
sport of the locality seemed to be running the rapids
in canoes, or rather sitting in canoes while Indians,

By Steamer.

with what looked Hke a highly manufactured excitej
ment, yelled their way down the turbulent stream;
but there was no time for indulging in this game ever!
if we had wished to do so, so we were content to watchl
the self-conscious air with which the heroes whcj
braved these perils came to shore, and the eviden:|
relief with which they left their frail vessels.

Another object of interest to the traveller was al
board surmounting a house on the American side, and]
bearing the legend,

BOAT SUIiLIES.

a combination of thrift and accuracy very pleasing ic
contemplate.

Close to the lock the fishermen who make thcirl
living here have built some ponds in the bed of the
river, allowing the water to run through ; and here fori
pieces of money they stir up with long poles for yourl
benefit divers monsters of the vasty deep, sturgeon,
white fish, and lake trout being the varieties that we
noticed. High up the river, just at the head of the
rapids, were visible the piers of the new railway which
was to connect with the C.P.R. at Sudbury, and from
which great things are expected in the way of trade!
from the corn-growing States of America and the
rich mining country through which it passes^ These!
piers had in several cases risen only just above their
foundations ; but we believe the first train ran across
the new bridge within six months of our passing thc|
Saulte.

At this moment the D. P. was again to the front]
with his ill-starred buffoonery. His difficulty was
this : " If Saulte spelt 5//, and aye spelt /', and sighed I

By Steamer.

spelt cide, why didn't saulteayesighed spell suicide ? "

[lo decide that any man who would jest on the ortho-
graphy of t'le English tongue was an outcast unfit to

live was the work of a moment : with one yell of
latred his fellow passengers sprang at his throat, and
lis mangled corpse is now fattening the fishes of this

very superior lake, "Justifiable foolicide " was the

kvay the jury spelt it.

1!^

Si'

( 50 )

CHAPTER VI.

THE C.P.R.

Wk arrived at Port Arthur, the modern successor o:
the ancient Fort William, which stood a few miles
away, about mid-day. It is uninteresting except I
from the usual standpoint of commercial prosperity
probably it has a future as the lake port for all the I
country to the westward ; but the wandering stranger
finds little to delight him therein. Howbeit \vc
bought there two buckets — not the largest stable
buckets, but still fair-sized pails— of strawberry and
raspberry jam, and in the shop windows we gazed]
with veneration at glittering specimens of ore, and with
delight at certain creatures which Jim asserted to bej
porcupigs, stuffed out of all recognition of themselves]
or their relations.

After this we wandered about the forest primeval
above the town, or more correctly the site of thej
forest primeval, for the thing itself has almost without
exception been burnt down in every part of the
country, and the present forests are of modern
growth and struggling with many disadvantages.
Here we found rasbberries, currants, and straw-
berries in profusion, and felt very pleased with our-
selves when, having eaten our fill, we could lie on the
sunny bank and gaze out over the foam-flecked sur-

I i

The C.P.R.

face of the lake to where the dark mass of Tliunder
^apc reared itself in the distance. In this healthful

jand intellectual pursuit we chased the happy hours
iway until the arrival of the train which was to bear
us westward for the next three days. This was
timed to take place at 15.10 (i.e. ten minutes past
three, for from Port Arthur the time is reckoned on

|thc twenty-four hour system), and the C.P.R. reputa-
tion for punctuality was well sustained.

It was strange to see a resident drive up to the
?tation on a very light kind of bogie running on the

railway lines and propelled by a hand- lever, accom-
)anied by two huge black Newfoundlands. He did not
scem to consider his appearance in any way remark-
ible, but it distinctly was, as he came gliding along
the track on his uncanny machine, with long black
:oat-tails flapping in the breeze, and an incongruous
jsolcmnity pervading his countenance.

We had intended to give a long and graphic de-
jscription of the scenery and other accessories of this
jraihvay journey, because although it has been already
jdone and even overdone by lots of travellers, still we

The C.P.R.

felt that we were the boys to do it better than any of
them. Just before we left Toronto the C.P.R. agent
presented us with a bundle of what we took to be
tracts, but soon discovered to be the literature of the
railway, and one of these has taken all the conceit
out of us. We shall at the right time make a quota-
tion from it which will be enough to show the hope-
lessness of any attempt at competition in the art of
fine writing. Suffice it therefore to say that we saw
and did what every one else sees and does on this
part of the road, which being interpreted means we
ate and drank, smoked and slept, played cribbage
and other games of skill, sketched, wrote and gazed
out of the window, and then did it all ov'er again. It
is curious that one should not be bored to death by
this routine, but somehow one is not. Travelling on
a main line like this is very comfortable if you are
willing to pay the extra price for a seat in the Pull-
man car, costing roughly about ten shillings a day,
for which you get practicall}' a double seat and a
large bed (on the C.P.R. a very large bed indeed).
Travellers by the English Pullman sleeping cars,
which are built to go through our old-fashioned
tunnels, have no idea of the comfort of these American
berths. We as a rule take what is called a section,
i.e. the two double seats facing each other, so that we
can if we wish have a table between us, and at night
this section makes up into two berths one above the
other.

The negro porter who looks after this car is, we
fancy, a bit of a wag. Before you can get a place
allotted you have to produce 3'our railway ticket, and
he gives you a slip of paper stamped in a variegated

mm'

The C.I\R.

fashion, which is the voucher for your scat. We
saw a traveller who did not comprehend this system
holding his slip up and asking, " What the dooce is
this for ? " " Dat," said the porter, " dat's the certifi-
cate of youah berth." For a brief moment we hoped
to see a real row, but these porters are all cast in the
chucker-out mould, and the other man concluded to
let it slide. Some time afterwards we guessed he
had grasped the fact that there are two words pro-
nounced birth, for we saw him in amicable converse
with the object of his anger.

In old days the upper berth was not thought so
good as the lower, because of the dust and draught
from the ventilators ; but all annoyance from this
cause is obviated by the construction of the present
cars, the ventilators being provided with gauze
screens and placed high up in the roof. The windows
are very large, and all have double glasses, which
assist an even temperature and keep out dust. At
one end of the car is a smoking-room, bath-room, and
lavatory for us ; and the ladies are equally well pro-
vided for at the other end, though we believe they
have no smoking-room. Probably there is a bonnet-
shop or confectioner's there instead, but we did not
look. There is a stove with hot-water pipes which
heat every part of the car ; and this is to our notion
almost a nuisance, as they are much too fond of
getting the temperature up to somewhere about the
seventies, and if, as on our return journey, the ther-
mometer outside stands at 35'' below zero, the change
of 100° or so whenever you leave the car lor a
moment is sufficient to kill most people on the spot,
and gave us colds to which during the whole of our

The CJ\R.

wanderings through snow and rain we were quite
impervious.

Kvery now and then a man comes aboard and
walks up and down scHing books and papers, and
another one hawks fruit. The latter is an excellent
institution, as the fruit is always good and cheap, but
the bookseller is naturally not as interesting as one of
Mr. W. H. Smith's emporia (we are nothing if not
classical). Moreover he tempts you by dilating on
the charms of the newest of his wares in a kind
of disinterested manner, and in the middle of his
harangue he affects to be called away, leaving the
book, the plot of which he was describing with fervid
eloquence, lying by your side. He does not come
back until you are turning over page 74, where ** Lord
Marmaduke seized one ruffian by the heels, and using
his quivering corpse as a bludgeon, was in th^ v- ry
act of scattering the brains of his cowardly assailants
to the four winds of heaven, when an agonised shriek
rang wildly through the welkin, and from the postern
rushed the Ladye Ethelreda pursued by a sheriff's

officer " At this thrilling moment you become

slowly aware that he has been again by your side for
some unknown period, and feel compelled to pay a
dollar for that startling narrative, not because you
care two cents what happened to the Ladye Ethelreda,
but because you would feel mean if you acquired so
much of her history gratis.

If you choose not to travel in a Pullman, you are
hardly as comfortable as in a good third-class carriage
at home, as there is only one car for all sorts and
conditions of men, and that is inclined to be dirty and
draughty. The C.P.R. have however put on a capital

The C.P.R.

" colonist's car," in wiiicli very good berths are pro-
vided at a low charge, and which appeared to be
clean and comfortable, and will no doubt be a great
boon to the large number of emigrants going West.

The line on leaving Port Arthur runs for many
miles along the valley of the Kaministiquia, a most
charming and trouty looking river ; and we longed to
get out and commence operations there, especially
when a party of young Canadians were seen at one
of the stations welcoming a canoe which was handed
out to them from our baggage car. But we had no
clays to spare for frivolity, so controlled our feelings,
though we spent a good deal of time out on the
platform at the end of the car, whence we could
see all the inviting rapids and pools of the lovely
stream.

A traveller with a great fund of information pointed
out to us a dismal swamp with a history. An engine
and tender had run oflf the line and been so com-
pletely swallowed up there that when next morning he
went to look at the marsh there was not a trace of
injury outwardly apparent, though, as he plaintively
added, " he knew it had a tender inside."

We passed dozens of little stations, all pretty much
of one pattern, the only place of any importance being
Rat Portage, which we left in the small hours of the
morning, and at breakfast-time next day were at
Winnipeg.

This city is famous, as the children's geography
books say, for the largest and best blueberries we
ever saw. It has other points of interest, details of
which may be culled from the various guide-books
which infest the traveller. It certainly is a surprising

The C.P.R.

place^ as there appears to be no very adequate reason
for its existence, but it is distinctly there, and all
there. Judging from its present progress there is
'lardly any limit to what it may in anotiier ten years'
timr- have reached in size and importance, for beyond
quest! -;n it must be the focus for all the converging
railways, many of them already in existence, and
many more projected, which will carry the produce
of the enormous fertile region surrounding it.

Leaving Winnipeg, wc come to the prairie lands,
not, however, so absolutel}' v.xt and uninteresting as we
find them later on. Farms are plentifully scattered
along each side of the track, and the soil looks as if
it needed the ver> slightest provocation to grow any-
thing. In fact they say any one who has corns need
only walk across j. field once to ensure a plentiful
grain crop, but ii is so difficult to know how much
■ to believe of what one hears.

Once in a while there come clanking through the
train a couple of the scarlet-coated North-West
Mounted Police, nominally in search of intoxicating
drinks, which are contraband all through the provinces
into which the old North-West Territory has been
divided. They draw those covers, however, in a very
perfunctory way, and it is easy to see that their
iiearts are not in this part of their duties, which
is hardly to be wondered at, for the}^ are much too
fine and soldierly a set of men to be employed on the
somewhat undignified task of opening old ladies' re-
ticules and smelling at bottles labelled '' Lavenue'.*
Water." They are really soldiers in everything but
the name, and soldiers of whom any nation might
well be proud. The Irish Constabulary are the only

The C.P.R.

body of men v/e can think of equalling them in
physique and general appearance. Most of them
are old country men, English, Irish, and Scotch, and
no doubt " gallant little Wales " sends a contingent,
though we did i:ot happen to meet a Welshman
among them. A good number are French Canadians,
with a sprinkling of Swedes and Norwegians ; and
not a few are 3^ounger sons whom red tape has lost
to our own army. The force is only about a thousand
strong, but that number is found sufficient at present
for preserving order in the vast country over which
they rule. Their reputation acts most powerfully as
a moral check on any attempt at disorder, for mal-
contents can never be sure what such men as these
are not capable of if the occasion arise. We travelled
some distance with Colonel Herchmer (whose name we
trust is correctly spelt), who has the chief command
of this little army, and very pleasant companions he
and a young English subaltern were ; indeed the same
may be said of all its members whom we met.

Late at night we passed, without seeing anything of
it, Regina, the capital of Assiniboia, and by daylight
next day were speeding along an ocean-like expanse
of yellow prairie, which rolled away for ever in illimi-
table billows of grass-grown wilderness. Standing on
the aft platform of the train, the two rails gleaming
out from under our feet could be seen absolutelv
straight behind us and gradually approaching each
other, till they merged into one silver wire far away
on the blue horizon. The soil all along this portion
of the route is so elastic and the line so s';raight and
level that the train goes humming along without jar
or vibration, and the sensation in these cars, with

^nRf"iaHf

The C.P.R.

their six-wheeled bogies and well arranged springs,
is more like what one imagines flying to be than
a mere matter-of-fact railway journey.

At long intervals we passed lakes, their shores
covered with brilliant crimson, which we took to
be some kind of water-weed, set oft' by an equally
startling band of white alkali. On and round about
all these lakes water-fowl of various kinds swarmed ;
at least five species of ducks, two of geese, gulls,
pelicans, and a few avocets, lots of greenshank, and
a close imitation of Kentish plover. Twice only we
saw antelope, which we were told are often to be seen
in great numbers close to the railroad.

This part of the journey ought to have been pretty
dull, but did not seem so. We had been rejoined at
Winnipeg by Miss C, with her rescued cottage, and
this invaluable building had been proved to contain
a wonderful collection of home-made cakes and other
delicacies, with which we made merry in defiance of
the N. W. Police. The dining cars which were
attached to the train for our meals were also most
interesting ; and here — as said the undergraduate
who was asked what he knew of John the Baptist,
*' it would not be amiss to give a list of the kings of
Israel and Jud — " that is, of the fare provided for
our lunch.

Oyster Soup.

Fish. — Boiled salmon trout ; egg sauce.

Boiled leg of mutton ; caper sauce ; boiled ham ; braized

turkey ; cranberry sauce ; roast l,)eef ; baked potatoes ;

roast lamb ; mint sauce ; boiled chicken and bacon.
Entrees. — Salmis of duck ; scalloped oysters; pork cutlets;

tomato sauce.

The C.P.R.

Boiled and mashed potatoes ; string beans ; green peas ;

stewed tomatoes ; mashed turnips ; green corn ; beets.
Salad ; water biscuits ; Stilton cheese.
yV^iV/j.— Jam roll pudding; peach tart; sandwich pastry;

compote of pears ; wine jelly.
Green tea ; black English breakfast tea ; chocolate ; coffee ;

apples ; oranges ; nuts ; raisins ; figs ; prunes.

Soon after midday Medicine Hat was reached,
and there was some alteration in the time-table to
be effected, the result of which was that we were
allowed to get out of the train and play for three

Medecine.Hat C.P.R. /i au.f.

or four hours. Here the South Saskatchewan is
crossed by a fine bridge : the station is crowded with
specimens of the noble red man offering articles of
vertu, in the shape of bead ornaments and buffalo
horns nicely polished and neatly bound together with
a bit of skin. The skin, by the way, is not that of
the buffalo, for with the exception of one or two
herds which survive in much the same way as the
Chillingham cattle, this animal is extinct ; and with
the extinction of the buffalo the mison dP.trc of the

The C.P.R.

noble red man has also disappeared. Many of the
passengers wandered over the town, which consists
largely of churches of different denominations : one
church to every score or so of inhabitants seems to
be about the least number they can get on with.
Others of us gathered flowers on the prairie, and led
a peaceful arcadian existence. Presently, as is the
custom here, without any preliminary whistling or
warning, the train moved off, and it was sweet to see
the frantic travellers lowering sprint records in the
most surprising and entertaining manner, as they
rushed at their retreating dwelling. The last man
to believe that it was really going and not only
shunting was the Skipper, but when he did grasp
the situation, the way in which he girded up his loins
and fled along the track, with his coat-tails streaming
in the wind, and all the people on the platform in
ecstasies of pleasure at so ludicrous a sight, was very
gratifying. He managed just to clutch the iron rail,
and was hauled in by the conductor in a rather
exhausted condition.

Railway lines and streets are ver}'^ much mixed in
this country : it; is, we understand, the birthright of
every man to walk or drive all over every track
wherever h(. may choose, so it is often difficult to
know whether you are in a street with railway lines
running down it, or on a railroad along which people
are driving and walking. At one place — we forget
where — a length of street was roofed over, and right
and left, instead of the shops which we had noticed
a few yards prv'^viousl}', were doors labelled " Baggage
Room," " Ticket Office," and so on, so that we became
aware that this was a station ; and then a few yards

il: \

The C.P.R.

further it had imperceptibly gUded into a street again,
and once more shop windows feasted our eyes.

This was one of the most perfect days of our
journey. The line after crossing the river at Medicine
Hat climbs on to another plateau, and for the rest of
the afternoon we sped on throuj-rh one vast unbroken
tract of prairie land, with only the water-tanks and
windmill pumps which supply them to break the
monotony of the view. Close to the line were long
rows of peculiar fences, which are placed there to
prevent the drifting of the snow during the blizzards,
which sweep across the shelterless Hats in winter.
On the rolling hummocks at either side could be seen
innumerable gophers, a kind of small ground squirrel,
and occasionally large hawks of the harrier tribe,
which no doubt prey upon the gophers and the rattle-
snakes, which are another addition to the attractions of
this unattractive country.

Near one station we noticed a slightly raised turf
mound and wooden cross, evidently marking a recently
made grave, and our conductor gave us its history.
The poor fellow who lies there was one of the men
who attend to the pumps, and living as he did on this
vast solitudt, many miles from the next station, he
fell ill in his hut and died, without any one noticing
his non - appearance as the daily train went b}'.
Several days afterwards the tank was fou.nd to be
short of water, which led to inquiry, and his dead body
was discovered and laid to rest where we saw that
little cross. The utter loneliness of such a life and
death is terrible to think o^ . if this huge wilderness
can be such a picture of desolation in the summer, one
shudders to even imagine it lying through the long

The C.P,R,

winter months shrouded in one far-stretching robe of
white.

Just before dark we noticed some little excitement
at one of these tiny stopping places, and a man came
up to the car with a lynx which he and his collie
had managed to kill. It was a miserable, half-starved
looking beast, but had some nasty teeth, with which the
poor collie's ears and head had made acquaintance.

And then the flaming sun went down over such a
wild scene of glowing yellow plains as can never be
effaced from our memories ; and as the darkness set
in, we could see in the far distance the ruddy glare of
prairie fires in several places, though this night being
calm, there was not that raging tempest of flame which
is occasioned when there is any wind.

This is the great cattle ranching country of the
North-West, said to be for climatic reasons superior
to the more southern ranges in the United States. It
is very rapidly filling up, and no doubt the completion
of the railway by the branch lines which will soon be
spread over the whole region, will quickly lead to the
utilisation of the whole of these natural pastures.

CHAPTER VII.

THE ROCKIES.

Wi-: were too late to get a glimpse of the Rockies
before going to bed, but in the early morning of the
14th August we woke to find that we had passed
Calgary, the capital of Alberta, in the night, and were
now running at a good pace up a fairly steep incline,
with the Bow River hurrying down from the mountains
alongside of our track, while already some splendid
peaks, whose jagged summits were crowned with snow,
were frowning above us.

Some writer quoted in the C.P.R. time-table sa3's,
apropos of such a moment as this : " Our coarse natures
cannot at first appreciate the exquisite aerial grace of
that solitary peak, that seems on its way to Heaven."
We are thankful to say that onr natures are not so
dreadfully coarse as this would imply, and we were
able, even at 4.30 in the morning, with no sustenance
but a little chocolate, to take a keen delight in these
splendid mountains. Their grandeur is no doubt
much more striking from the three days' preparation
of fiat vastness which the traveller has undergone.

But neither words nor pencil can picture the true
glories of the scene. If the reader wishes for de-
scriptions, they are to be found in plenty, and written
with a skill to which we cannot aspire. But none of

MiJ

The Rockies.

II !

them can give the sense of freedom, the exhilarating
atmosphere, the scent of the pine forests, the glancing
and splashing of the torrent, the glow of the rising
sun, and the thousand and one adjuncts that go to
make up enjoyment, and without which the most lovely
prospect imaginable is but a poor thing.

There is only one way by which any real idea of
these treasures of nature can be obtained, and that is
to go yourself, and for healthful pleasure it is open to
doubt whether there is any earthly employment in
which your time could be more profitably occupied.

The Bow River is followed for many miles, and
then with a sudden turn to the west we are in the
heart of the great glaciers and ravines of the main
range. We have long since passed Canmore, with its
guardian pillars of conglomerate, the witches, so they
say, who tried, and for centuries successfully, to keep
at bay the white man's magic. But their time came,
their spells at last availed them naught, and there at
the rocky gateway they stand, petrified monuments,
in eternal protest against the desecration of their
ancient sanctuary by the snorting locomotive.

Banff is left on one side, with its medicinal springs
and modern palace of an hotel, and still our engine
goes panting and groaning its way upwards, till at
length we come to a placid little lake, whose waters
supply some small portion of the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans, and stop in the Kicking Horse Pass at
Stephen, 5290 feet above sea-level.

There is a short delay while our engines are being
looked to and their fastenings examined, and then
we start on the downward run. No. 144, our front
engine, has a huge pair of elk antlers surrounding

The Rockies.

his head-light, about as incongruous an ornament as
could be imagined, and coupled to our hindmost car
comes thundering a giant of close upon 200 tons, so
that we feel that we are as safe from a too rapid
descent as strength can make us. The view is mag-
nificent, the trees already more luxuriant in foliage
than on the bleaker eastern slope, and the rapidly in-
creasing Kicking Horse River dancing madly along by
our side in its tortuous and rocky channel.

Breakfast at Field — where a chalet-like hotel has
been built by the company — was a pleasant break
in the excitement of the run ; and then for the last
time we took our stand on the platform for the few
remaining miles of our railway journey. Soon No.
144 (our monster had left us at Field) pulled up, and
it was seen that a landslip had blocked a tunnel just
ahead of us. A road had been built round a pro-
jecting spur of the tunneled rock, overhanging the
angry river, but the corner was so sharp that it was
impossible to get round with both the coupling
chains fastened, and the halt was made for the pur-
pose of unhooking those next to the outside of the
curve. This done, we crept very gingerly round, the
general impression that it gave one being that the
engine would come and walk in at the back of the
last car if it were not careful. But we accomplished
it, passed a few small stations, and at last, at nine in
the morning of August 1 6th, stopped at no less a place
than Golden City. But before leaving the train, we
must quote from the book already mentioned the
gloriously inspired passage which refers to the spot.

" Here another surprise awaits. The train, escaped
from the canyon walls, rushes at full speed along the

lis

The Rockies.

base of a ridge which confronts it on the right, until
it swings around its foot towards the north. Then
springs into view a magnificent sierra hfted iiigh
against the azure slcy : it is the Selkirk range of
mountains, lofty, rock-ribbed, and glacial : their base
is hidden behind massive folds of foot-hills looking
almost black beneath the mantle of spruce which
sweeps far up the sides of even the central cones,
intercepted here and there by jutting crags, cut from
top to bottom in long lanes mowed year after year
by the avalanches, and capped by a chain of summits
from whose turrets winter never retreats. And when
the afternoon sun is dropping slowly towards it, and
the mists of the great valley have risen into light
clouds that fleecily veil the cold peaks, they swim in
a radiant warmth and glory of colour that suggests
Asgard, the celestial cit}' of Scandinavian story, whose
foundations were laid on the icy pillars of those far
northern mountains where the Vikings worshipped."

To which we can only add — *' You bet."

We are not going to compete with this word artist,
but it is nice to know that such things can be Vv^ritten,
and comforting to have them by one as a solace to
one's mind when disturbed by the more unpoetical
events of ordinary life.

In another minute we were left lamenting the com-
forts of the train on the platform of Golden City Station,
surrounded b}' our numerous possessions and — horresco
referens — a bloodthirsty horde of mosquitoes.

To our inquiries for Cardie the stationmaster re-
ported no such person to have landed, and he had
heard nothing of our canoes which three weeks ago
had been sent off from Peterborough, Ontario, the

re-
had
ago

the

The Rockies.

birthplace of the modern Canadian canoe. This was
all very depressing, for without Cardie we could not
start, and without our canoes we could do nothing
hcic. There was nothing for it but to carry our
belongings over to the Queen's Hotel and await in
patient torment the course of events.

( 68 )

CHAPTER VIII.

11 C.

The Queen's Hotel has a fine ring about it, and in
fact it is a fine place — so much so, that if it were much
finer you could not see it at all. It consists of a low
badly built log cabin, which hereabouts they call a
" shack." It has a bar, a kitchen, a room with a baga-
telle board in it, a feeding-room, and three tiny bed-
rooms with barely space for bed and wash-stand, but
quite a number of draughts. It was, however, all very
clean, and as far as such a place could be, comfortable,
and Mrs. Green was an excellent cook. We found
on the table in the sitting-room a sedately bound
volume of considerable bulk, entitled " Reveries of a
Bachelor," new edition. This implied a neatly veiled
compliment to married men, for the book was
nothing but an ingenious dodge for evading the
N. W. drink regulations, a secret spring which was
revealed to us by the landlord disclosing the neck of
a whisky bottle most artfully concealed within the
leaves. However, lots of books have worse things
than this in them.

We wandered about the " suburbs " all day, and
made divers discoveries. Item : That the waters of the
Columbia, into which the Kicking Horse flows a
couple of miles beyond the station, were too " riley "

/.'. c.

(British Columbian word meaning stained with snow)
to allow of any fishing. Item : That the said suburbs
consisted chiefly of brush and swamp, and were the
lair of millions of mosquitoes. Item : That Golden
City, or " Golden," as it is invariably called, contained
one or two good fellows, but was on the whole one of
the most pitiful places on the earth.

Since the early days of mining discoveries we

, 7^?

''*' I

imagine this city went steadily backwards, until the
C.P.R. put life once more into its sinking frame.
Now he would be a bold man who would deny that
the future has great possibilities for it, for the
Columbia valley above here is undoubtedly one of the
favoured districts of the province, and is being rapidly
settled. The river is navigable from its source down
to Golden, but only a few miles below, and consequently
any goods destined for the upper valley are brought

B. C.

ii|i.

here by the railway for transfer to the boats and two
steamers which already ply on the river. The Pro-
vincial Government is also making a waggon-road
along the valley to the lakes which form the head-
waters, and on from there down the Kootenay, so
that the settlers are not wholly dependent on the
navigation, which of course is often interrupted by
frost, tloods, and low water ; and it will not be very
long before the iron horse will find his way across
the beautiful parks which fringe the river bank, and
destroy at one fell stroke the occupation of bor ts,
pack-trains, and waggons, and to some extent even
of the steamers.

There is a freedom and heartiness about these
British Columbian folk (vve shall in future adopt the
custom of the country and use only the letters B. C.)
which is very captivating to the sophisticated and
conventional mind. The first friend we made was a
little girl aged about five, who seemed to be living
independently of her relations. She said her name
was Miss Jenny Lorena Wells, which seems a good
deal for one so young ; and she imparted many
details concerning the life and habits of her doll.
Then our landlord was exceedingly hospitable and
agreeable. We asked by way of conversation what
was the name of the mountain straight opposite his
door, a peak so striking in its rugged magnificence
that in Switzerland they would have two railways
and a dozen hotels planted on it. With princely
generosity he replied, '' You can call it what you
darn like : every outfit that comes along gives it a
new name, and I'll be shot if I can remember what
the last one was." It was gratifying to reflect that

B. C.

you
it a

what
that

we were now an " outfit," but we could not at that
time think of an appropriate title for the mountain.

The east-bound train came in about 17 o'clock ;
and having nothing better to do, we strolled up to
the station to see it pass, when to our astonishment
we detected in a youth of fashionable exterior, sur-
rounded by a bevy of sorrowing but high-born
maidens, our long-lost 7r.c\ little expected Cardie. It
had taken him just a month of driving and training
to get here from his eyrie in the Colorado mountains,
and it was an extraordinary coincidence that after all
the delays and minor calamities we had suffered, we
should have thus managed to reach our goal on the
same day.

Cardie soon put us r.ght on several points of
speech, e.g. we found that " truck " is the great and
universal word for any emergency. " Is all that
truck yours ? What sort of truck have you got in
it for cold weather? Yes, that 45.90 Winchester
isn't bad truck to have around for a grizzly. Well,
I should put it all on a truck and wheel it to the hotel."
These are the sentences with which we should begin
a B. C. Ollendorf. The only other necessary piece of
knowledge is '^ How to use 'What's the matter' in
500 different ways, by one who has been there."
" What's the matter with some supper ? W^iat's the
matter with the bread ? (t'.e. Please pass it). What's
the matter with skipping out of this first thing in the
morning ? " Any one who will devote his mind to the
study of these far-reaching productions of the Anglo-
American tongue will find that the opportunities for
their application are endless ; in fact we now " have
th^m in our houses and use no other."

B. C.

With this newly acquired brilliancy there was no
longer any difficulty in christening our mountain peak,
and the v^^rld will be good enough to take notice that
now and for all time it is to be known as the " What's-
the-Matter-horn."

The canoes not having arrived, we decided to go
for a ramble of three or four days to see what the
country was like, and as there was no room in the
Queen's for our " truck," we hired a small shack in
which we stored all the more sumptuous portions of
our apparel and various other things which we did
not need to take with us. That finished, we lunched
on the Ditcliess (the larger of the two Columbia
steamers) with the captain, Mr. Armstrong, who was
in all ways most obliging. His craft presentei a
somewhat decrepit appearance, as about a fortnight
beiore our arrival she had been wrecked in the
Columbia with a full cargo and some passengers.
They had managed to fish her up again out of about
fourteen feet of water, and she was now in steaming
order, but all her fittings and former smartness had
gone where other good things go. Her general
aspect, in fact, was that of an old canal-boat into
which a travelling gipsy's van had been hastily
crammed without regard to its position or safety.
One most valuable thing had, however, been saved
from the general ruin, Sam, the Chinese cook : the
best cook wc "struck" (Anglicc3 — fell in with) on the
mainland of B. C. Here we met also another of the
N. W. i?olice officers, and altogether enjoyed our-
selves, for the mosquito seemed unable to exist on
the DitcJicss, though he flourished ever3'where else.

The general good-fellowship and freedom from

B. C

ceremony are not without their drawbacks. Within
ten minutes of our arrival at Golden, half a dozen
total strangers had pressed us to drink, and we
thought " What a nice place." We began to doubt the
advantages of it when another total stranger adorned
with two lovely black eyes dashed into the shack this
evening while we were packing. In the same hearty
and informal manner he immediately assailed Cardie
and Jim with a selected assortment of the worst epithets
yet coined, and challenged them both to mortal combat.
We at last persuaded him to go and fight another man,
who, we assured him, was thirsting for his blood, and at
a late hour that evening were rejoiced to see him relieved
of his lethal weapons by the community at large. This
man, when sober, was a nice enough fellow, but the
drink supplied in these western towns is as a rule bad
enough to make even a dog behave disgracefully, let
alone a man.

We discussed here with the authorities what it
would be advisable to do whenever (and if ever) the
canoes should turn up. We were uncertain whether
to go down the Columbia northwards to what is called
the Big Bend, or gc up it to its source, and crossing
the narrow strip of land, paddle down the Kootena}',
our own inclination being for the former course. The
experts said — " Oh yes, you can get round the Big
Bend : one or two canoes have done it all right, but
on an average they lose one man out of each party
that goes down. You see the rapids s.re bad, and it is
long odds against every one £ "^tting down safely."
We talked it over, and made up our minds to go,
as we all tliought one man out of three would never
be missed ; but we soon found there was an irre-

B. C,

concilable difference of opinion between us as to
which that one was, no less than three names being
suggested. So we gave up the Big Bend, and finally
decided to go up the river as soon as the canoes
arrived, and in the meantime to try a little hunt.

On the morning of August 17th, we started in the
Duchess, which was bound for the lake at the head-
waters known as Lake Windermere, intending to get
out of her at the first promising spot. Our progress
was very slow at first, as this part of the river is
rapid, and the old stern-wheeler did not make more
than i^ miles an hour past the banks, though she
was good for eight or nine through the water.
The Columbia depends for its supply on the melting
snow, and this was about coming to an end ; the
water therefore was falling rapidly, and leaving on
either side huge marshy lagoons known as sloughs
(pronounced sloo). These seemed to offer great
attractions to enormous flocks of geese, ducks, and
plover, while here and there the white wings of a
swan might be seen reflected in the perfectly still
waters. The banks of the river are for the most part
densely wooded, except where one of these backwaters
occurs, and in such places it is often impossible for the
inexperienced to detect the true course, there being
frequently so many different channels, and these so
wide, that there is no perceptible stream in any of
them. Skilfully steered, the Duchess found her way
through the devious passages, every turn disclosing
new beauties, as the two glorious ranges, the Rockies
on our left hand (the cast) and the Selkirks on the
right, became visible above the high wooded bluffs
which in many parts overhang the river. Forest fires

B, C.

were burning on all sides, but only making their
existence known by a light blue haze, which filled
the air and gave just that atmosphere to the view
which in a dry mountain climate is so often wanting,
and on this perfect day not one thing was lacking to
complete our happiness.

Alas, earthly happiness seldom lasts long. We
passed the place where the poor Duchess went
down, and a little higher up, at a spot where the
forest grew more densely than anywhere else, the
steamer ran her nose into the bank, and we and our
" truck " were bundled on shore. Five minutes la*^er
she was a mere puffing speck in the distance, while
we were being literally eaten by the most awful
mosquitoes it has ever been our lot to meet — or
be meat for.

ifirei-

( 76 )

CHAPTER IX.

MOSQUITO CAMP.

The only information we could get about this place,
which was known as Canyon Creek, was that goats
(the mountain white goat) abounded high up the
Selkirks, and that there was a hunting trail from this
spot which would lead us up into their country. The
ground near the landing was slightly swampy, as a
small stream (called m this country a creek) here
found its way into the river, and all among the trees
was a perfect network of numberless smaller rills.
The forest was dark, and composed of enormously tall
trees, chiefly spruce, hemlock, and cottonwood, with
a dense undergrowth of willow, cranberry, raspberry
and mosquitoes. We soon tbund the trail, a very
faint and feeble specimen of one, but marked con-
spicuously by fairly frequent blazes (axe-cuts remov-
ing a broad piece of bark) on the trees ; so satisfied
that all was right, we shouldered our burdens and
walked along it, making at best very slow progress,
and soon finding that the trail grew ever worse
under foot and more difficult to follow. At last
it was impossible to sec any more bb.'es on the
trees, and the trail itself had become a thing of
naught.

Jim, who even at such a time as this could not

Mosquito Camp.

refrain from what he imagined to be wit, was on
ahead malcing out the track, and after vainly searching
for any further sign of it, he pointed to the last axe
mark that could be discerned on a huge cottonwood,
and opined that " it had run up that tree and appa-
rently gone to blazes.^' If the scoundrel who chopped
those delusive signals on the bark is undergoing even
a small percentage of the fate to which our anathemas
condemned him, we can only say he must be having
a pretty warm time of it. And yet perchance he
was not wicked but only unfortunate, and had merely
blazed these trees in trying to find his own way to
the apocryphal trail : showing, however, more dis-
cretion than we did by turning back when he had
struggled in vain to this point.

We, unlike our imaginary predecessor, having come
so far, were unwilling to return to the river to see
if there might not be another trail on the other side
of the creek, so guiding our course by the sun, which
could just be seen through the tree-tops, wc took
turns at chopping our way through the forest towards
the still distant rising ground at the foot of the
Selkirks. Two hours of this, during which we advanced
perhaps half a mile, was sufficient, with the torture
that we were suffering all the time from our . zinged
foes, to utterly exhaust us, for the forest in many
places had been burnt, and here the fallen trees lay
piled over each other in a terribly complicated manner,
while in the unburnt portions it was if anything more
difficult to force a way through tlie tangled thicket of
brush and swamp. Many of the prostrate trunks
were so large that one might just as well attempt to
walk over a park wall as to surmount them, laden as

Mosquito Camp.

we were, and they looked about as long as Welbeck
Street, so that going round them was no small under-
taking. All this, however, would have been a mere
matter of time, but when in addition we had to repel
the attacks of countless millions of mosquitoes the
case was very different ; and through it all remember
the thermometer stood at about 90'' in the shade, with

" Never saw such a chap: always spoiling everything by tvatiii/ig

to go back !"

never a breath of wind to alleviate our sufferings from
the heat.

People at home read of sandflies, Cingalese leeches,
stinging ants, mosquitoes, and the like, and the fashion
is to treat all such matters more or less as jokes, and
to affect merriment at the idea of getting well bitten
by any of them, but the truth is that there is no
misery on earth equal to a reall}' bad attack of these
demons. We all thought we had seen mosquitoes
before, in Norway, in India, and in the States, but

Jllosijiiilo Cavip.

from

lies,
hion
[and
Itten
no
lese
toes
I but

until now we knew nothing — absolutely nothing—
of the concentrated essence of torture that thev are
capable of inflicting when you invade their real
home.

Some writer lately has been advocating the claims
of the stinging ants as the worst evil that can befall
a man. For us they may come, and bring also their
sisters and their cousins ; we still uphold the mosquito
as facile princeps.

Every step we took kicked up a veritable cloud of
new assailants, and though in expectation of their
attacks we had come provided with large pieces of
gauze which were put over our hats and tucked in
under our coats, the protection was soon worthless,
for we found that the swarms of insects upon the
veils prevented both sight and breathing. We were
obliged when moving to take them off, only replacing
them whenever exhausted nature could stand the agony
no longer and we stopped to rest for a few moments,
lighting a fire whenever we did so, and getting a
brief respite in the choking fumes of the smouldering
wood.

It speaks volumes for the spirit which ever animated
our poet that he should have chosen one of these brief
halts to compose an Ode, which, had it been com-
pleted, would, we feel sure, have conferred undying
immortality upon him. Even in its unfinished con-
dition we have no hesitation in presenting it to the
world.

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TEST TARGET (MT-3)

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Corporation

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. M580

(716) 872-4503

^-0'

'<^*^

O'^

T<^

>r>

Mosquito Camp.

(i) ODE TO THE MOSQUITO.

A FRAGMENT.

Recitative.

On other poets here I place my veto,

Be mine alone to sing the dashed mosquito :

Aria.

Thou airy sprite, child of the shady grove.
Faithful companion wheresoe'er we rove,
Together have we roamed the wide world through,
And thou alone of all its hosts art true (2).

On Afric's shores', on India's coral strand,
The first to meet us in this Northern land :
The last to leave us as its shores recede,
O ghostly gimlet, " treu und fest " (3) indeed.

E'en as a watchful mother bends above
Her babe, and croons a lullaby of love,
So thou, whene'er our nightly couch we seek,
Hov'rest aloft, a '* phantom — with a beak " (4).

And with thy sweet small »oul-entrancing song,
"'■•.Xhou'lt chann our wakeful ear the whole night long ;
When pain and anguish chance to wring the brow, .
No wife so constant at our side as thou (5).

But unlike woman, in our hours of ease,
Thou'rt not uncertain, coy, or hard to please ;
Content to dwell upon the merest speck
Of ear or nose, or small expanse of neck.

(1). We owe him a good deal more than this, but fear he will
never be paid.

(2). Yes, and he bleeds one like a true host,
(3). Note by Printer. Is this word fest or pest?

Author. Fest ; comparative, fester.
(4). A beak, alas ! who never gives him six weeks without tlie
option of a fine.

(5). Note by the Skipper. And if the pain and anguish we forget,
He'll bring 'em with him when he comes, you bet.

,1 il

I'M

■*3

§h^

^\4^

•N

'w:

'A.

Mosquito Camp.

To show the difficulties under which the minstrel

laboured, we give the remaining verses in fac-simile

from his note-book, embellished as they are by the

bodies of the slain. The last stanza was left unfinished,

for the subject-matter became too obtrusive in their

attentions, and the divine afflatus once gone could

never be recalled. Jim had an idea that it was

intended to run thus : —

dwell
At Helsingfors, or some such far-ofif spot *
Where other people live, and \vc do not.

But though we insert these lines, it is only too easy to
perceive that they are not of equal merit with the
preceding ones, and the true poetic climax is, we fear,
irretrievably lost.

At last finding a place where the tall gaunt stems
of the burnt forest gave a little more chance of light
and air, we cleared a very uncomfortable patch just
big enough for the tent, cooked some bacon and made
tea, and then huddled under our blankets as the only
possible asylum from the ever-increasing levies of our
relentless enemies. For as the sun went down a new
and more formidable variety came upon the scene : in
fact we soon found that each period of the day had its
own particular detachment, every new one appearing
to be more insatiable than the last. Unfortunately the
arrival of a fresh contingent did not induce those
already on the spot to desist from their labours.

It was an awful time. Sleep was out of the question,
for apart from the nervous state in which the cease-
less " ping " sdi the hovering pests keeps their victims,

* A mosquito always lives on a spot, and if there does not happen
to be one when he arrives, he soon makes one.

Mosquito Camp.

stems
light
just
made
only
of our
new
: in
lad its
taring

|ly the
those

Istion,
;ease-
:tims,

Ihapp

and the actual aching pain of the old bites, the night
was so oppressively close and sultry that to keep a
blanket over one's head for long was an impossibility ;
and on the other hand it was only by this protection
that the enemy could be kept at bay.

When we arose in the very early morning, we all
felt that another day of the same sort would be
unendurable, and something to better our condition
must be done at once. Cardie wanted to know
" what's the matter with skipping out on a raft back
to Golden ? " " You see," he said, " if you walk, you'll
have to leave nearly all your things here till we can
come back for them ; but if you go down on a raft, you
go down with all your truck." We thought it highly
probable that if we attempted the navigation of the
Columbia on such a raft as could be made under these
harrowing circumstances, we should "go down with
all our truck ; " but the ignominy of such a speedy
return was not to be thought of. The Skipper
grumbled out that " he never saw such a fellow ; comes
out for a few days' pleasure, and is always wanting to
go home." Jim likewise objected to beating a retreat,
because, when fetching water from one of the shallow
streams which trickled through the forest, he had
noticed so many tracks of bears in the soft soil that
he believed " there must be a goodish covey of them
somewhere around.'"'

At last it was decided to wander out and if possible
strike the trail, which we still felt sure must be some-
where near us up the mountain, while Cardie '* guessed
he could weather it " with the assistance of many fires
until the return of the explorers.

We had not left camp a quarter of a mile behind us

'%■

iWt'^

Mosquito Camp,

when Jim suddenly stopped and pointed to a tree about
seventy yards from us, and there, just visible above
the thick brush, with his fore-legs clasped round the
trunk, was a full-grown black bear. He was the
wrong side of the tree, and nothing but his head and
paws could be seen ; moreover we were at this time
walking on the top of a kind of scaffolding composed

" Just visible above the thick brush-"

of a huge pile of fallen trees about ten feet above the
ground, which made shooting almost impossible, as
the recoil would probably have knocked us oft* our
slippery perch. Jim, who was in front, had only taken
a small bore Winchester for birds and other small
game, which was by no means the sort of weapon one
would choose for carrying on a discussion with a bear ;

Mosquito Camp.

e the
as

F our

taken
small
none

Ibear :

and the Skipper, who had a heavy rifle, was in such
a position that he could not fire. We tried to get
forward to a place where the ground would give a
decent chance of a shot, and managed to reach a
fairly open bit not more than fort3'-five yards from
him. Jim was in the act of putting up his rifle, when
the bear, who had been watching us with uneasy
curiosity, shown by repeated movements of his head,
suddenly gave a frightened kind of snort, and before
either of us had time to shoot, dodged behind the
tree and slid rapidly to the ground, his claws scoring
the bark as he went. He was out of sight in an
instant in the solid mass of tangled scrub below, and
though we could hear him for some little time crash-
ing through the bushes in his flight, and wrathfully
despatched a bullet after him, one might as well have
fired at the moon. There was nothing for it, after
cordially laying all the blame on each other that really
ought to have been attributed to the bear, but to go
on our way, as we did, very disconsolate, still consumed
by the villainous mosquito, and more down on our luck
than ever.

In Sweden and Norway it is well known that to
speak of the animal as a " bear " will render hopeless
any attempt to secure him. He must always be
alluded to in hyperbolical metaphor, as " Old Fur-
jacket," or " The Wise One," or the " Disturber ; "
and if we had neglected this important rule, we
should have known that we deserved our fate. But
nothing of the sort had happened. We had merely
pointed respectfully at the " old one in the fur
cloak," and feel sure that we are guiltless in the
matter.

Mosquito Camp.

We wandered through the brush about an hour
longer, and at last did get to some perceptibly rising
ground, where the matted tangle of raspberries and
thimble-berries came to something like an end, and
walking was less of a gymnastic exercise. Here,
led by the sound of rushing waters, we soon stood
on the bank of a beautiful ice-cold creek, and following
it up a short distance suddenly came upon a ruined
log hut and a trail going past it : this we followed,
and in another half mile found ourselves at the foot
of a very steep hill, down which came tumbling over
rocky steps the water which supplied all the little
streamlets of our forest.

There was a large pool at the foot of the fall, and
close to this a fairly good log cabin and other evi-
dences of human work. A weir had been constructed
across the outlet of the pool by the simple process of
felling all the trees across it that were within reach,
and filling up all interstices with their branches, the
result of this engineering being that the water no
longer ran in the ancient bed of Canyon Creek, but
was diverted over the surface of the land. This
being very even in its contour, had not presented any
particularly favourable channel, and consequently the
torrent was running, as we have seen, deviously, and
reaching the Columbia by a multitude of small rivu-
lets. The object of this diversion was of course to
search for gold in the bed of the creek thus laid dry,
and we supposed that this had long since been done
to whatever extent the miners had thought profitable,
for there seemed to have been no one about the place
for some considerable time. The stream near the
weir was very rapid, clear as crystal, cold as ice,

pi I'
111

Mosgmto Camp.

and
evi-
cted
s of
ach,
the
no
but
his

the
land
vu-
to

ry,

le,
lace
Ithe
ice,

about fifteen yards wide, and in the deepest places
not quite up to the Skipper's neck.

There were plenty of trees lying across it, so that
it seemed an easy task to go over and up the trail
which we now saw zig-zagging up the almost perpen-
dicular hill beyond. So we gaily essayed the passage,
which Jim accomplished safely ; but just as the Skipper
was stepping off his bridge on to the bank the treach-
erous bark gave way (this is the worst danger in
walking on fallen trees), and with a mighty splash he
and his rifle went into the deepest hole in the creek.
He thought it best to get out at once, but too late to
save his watch, which he opened, and found that the
escapement had floated round to the back of the main-
spring and so jammed the gadget that the chunker-
block would not work. But we were equal to the
emergency, and in two minutes had frizzled all the
water out of the works by unscrewing the large lens
of the binocular and using it as a burning glass. It
had a wonderful effect, and with a little coaxing the
watch began to go ; then we hung it on a tree with
the mechanism still exposed to the rays of the sun,
and went on our way rejoicing.

In a f2w minutes more we were on the top of the
hill, and without a mosquito near us. Thankfully we
wended our way upwards along a quite easily followed
trail, and at length came to a camping-ground, among
splendid timber close to the edge of the canyon, which
by this time had widened out to a large ravine about
400 to 500 feet in depth, twice as much in width, and
with sides so precipitous as to utterly forbid any
attempt to get down them, while far beneath the
torrent foamed and roared in headlong descent. This

!*'^l 11

Mosquito Camp.

looked so promising a halting-place that we turned
back quite pleased with ourselves, and very quickly
made the return journey to the miner's cabin ; then
instead of retracing our steps to Mosquito Camp, we
still followed the trail downwards, confident that it
must lead to our landing-place on the Columbia,
which we afterwards found to be the case. On this
occasion, however, we only kept to it until we ima-
gined by our roughly taken bearings that we were
opposite the camp, and then striking off at right
angles we were delighted to find that we had made a
wonderfully correct shot, and were within a quarter of
a mile of our last night's quarters.

All was now hurry to get away, and we had packed
everything except the tent, when suddenly overhead
came the boom of thunder, and the big drops began
to fall. Flash followed flash in quick succession as
the storm drew nearer, and then far up the mountain
side we heard, like the \ -.pid cracks of a whip, crash,
crash, crash, CRASH, .juder and louder, the most
startling and terrifying sound, for it needed no one
to tell us that these were trees going down before
what must be an awful hurricane, apparently sweep-
ing straight down upon us, and mowing a path as it
came.

This was a pleasant situation. We were surrounded
by straight dead stems of mighty trees, varying from
150 to 200 feet in height, the ground so thickly be-
strewn and tangled with trunks and logs and under-
wood that to move two yards quickly in any direction
was an absolute impossibility, even if there would be
the slightest hope of successfully dodging such trees
on clear ground ; and nearer and nearer every moment

Mosquito Camp.

nded
from
yr be-

der-
ction

d be

itrees

ent

came the sharp rattling crack and roar of the falling
timber. There seemed only one chance of safety,
which was to creep under the biggest prostrate trunk
that we could find, and hope for the best. This Jim
and Cardie promptly did, " trembling," as the latter
afterwards graphically expressed it, " from limb to
limb." The Skipper said, " Who's afraid ? " but got
under a log nevertheless. Another moment and the
merest puff of air came, just enough to send a shiver
through the leaves of the quaking asp, and with that
puff close to us on our right we saw tree after tree of
the burnt forest slowly lean forward and without a
bend or resistance of any kind come to the ground
with earth-shaking crash, those that struck on high
raised piles of former victims breaking into huge
splintered fragments.

And then for the first time we realised, not at all
to our comfort, that no storm was needed to level
these tremendous sticks of charcoal : the fact is, as
we afterwards found, that wind is one of the rarest
occurrences in this part of the country, and from
this time throughout the autumn and winter it may
practically be said that dead calm is the normal con-
dition. The trees in a burnt forest remain upright,
not because they have any hold in the ground, for
their roots rot almost immediately after a fire, but
because being for the most part absolutely straight
and perpendicular, there is no inducement for them
to fall. And so they stand until the first breath of
wind comes, and then they go down before it like
ninepins, just as we had seen.

We are now glad to have been witnesses of the
sight, but the half-minute during which it went

Mosquito Camp.

on was about the most unpleasant month we ever
spent. The breeze seemed to pass about forl^ yards
to one side of us, and clearing its course to the
river left us, and to our immense gratification returned
no more.

When we felt convinced it was all over, and the
return of the momentarily dispersed mosquitoes brought
the same murderous thoughts to our hearts and the
same unkind words about them to our lips which
the ninepin trees had banished, we told Cardie of
our discoveries and adventures. He was greatly
interested in the bear part of the story, as this black
bear was a novelty to him, the grizzly being the bear
of his mounta'n home. He wanted to know what it
looked like, and after much thought Jim gave utterance
to the comprehensive information — "Well, he looked
exactly like a great bcar^^ (accent on the bear).
When pressed for a little more description of the
animal he could only add— " He looked just as if he
wanted a bun."

( 9' )

CHAPTER X.

CANYON CRF.EK.

The thunderstorm passed, aiu^ wc then cut a trail
through the dripping wood across to the newly
discovered one, and before night-fall were up at the
log cabin near the foot ui th'^ fall. The tent we
decided to be unnecessar}', as the nights seemed to
our surprise to be warm, and we had a waggon-sheet
with us which could be made into a very serviceable
tent in case of rain. We had a most festive meal up
there, for we had shot several squirrels, which make
excellent curried rabbit, and the respite from being
worried had given us time to bake, so that for the
first time since we left the Duchess we were all
good-tempered and even agreeable. We found in
the cabin a pack of cards, and at first meditated a
regular night of it at Whist and Prussian Bank and
Grab and other intellectual games. Unfortunately
several cards were missing — in fact, to speak truth-
fully, they were all missing except two queens of
diamonds and the four of clubs, and none of us could
remember any good game which only needed those
three.

That night we slept almost undisturbed, for the
more open ground and the ci^ !dness of the mountain
torrent made a sort of draught which annoyed the

Canyon Creek.

mosquito, and prevented him from hunting with any
degree of pleasure. We found by the tracks that
a bear had passed within forty yards of the cabin
during the night, but could not find him.

The next day was spent in the very hard work of
dragging all our truck up that vertical hill, but we
felt repaid for our toil when at night we pitched our
camp on the very edge of the mighty canyon. There
the roar of the glacier torrent came up as a soothing
murmur to mingle with the tiny music of the fir
branches, as their needles trembled in the motionless
air, while the twittering of the mountain Chickadee
(a little titmouse) and the angry chatter of Ajidaumo
were the only other sounds to be heard.

Very jolly it was to lie there that first night and
think of the horrors we had endured in the mosquito
haunted shores far below us, and to watch the twink-
ling stars — more brilliant than we ever see them in
our murky atmosphere — and the gleam of the rushing
waters so white in the starlight. Those restless
mortals, Jim and Cardie, must add to the enjo3'ment
of this peaceful time by making a huge fire of trees,
and when one of these had become thoroughly well
lighted from end to end they would lever it to the
edge of the canyon, and with a wild yell send it
hurtling down the precipice. Such a firework would
make the fortune of a Crystal Palace. The blazing
log went twisting and writhing like a fiery snake,
gaining in speed at every yard of its descent ; and
as it sprang from ledge to ledge, at each bound or
somersault a glowiiig shower of sparks flew off, more
brilliant every moment as the velocity of its flight
fanned the flaming brands, until at last with one

Canyon Creek.

'ith any
:ks that
e cabin

work of

but we

hed our

There

soothing

the fir

)tionless

lickadee

jidaumo

ght and

nosquito

? twink-

them in

rushing

restless

joyment

)f trees,

ly well

to the

send it

would

blazing

snake,

t ; and

und or

flight

tth one

splendid leap it whizzed like a rocket over the last
cliff and plunged into the seething waters. Ah well,
it was a pleasant, careless night, and we made the
most of it, little knowing how short a time it
would last.

About midnight we all awoke with a start as a
blinding flash of lightning illumined with a ghastly
glare every stick and stone in the vast gulf of the
canyon, and in a few minutes we were crouching for
shelter under the waggon-sheet, rather scared with the
excessive nearness and blueness of the lightning.

Cardie, in his usual picturesque language, next
morning asserted that it was " as blue as a wimberry
and as thick as a bed-post ; " and if that is not word
painting, we don't know what is.

The storm did not last long — Columbian storms
never do, according to our experience — and we were
soon comfortably at rest again, with the thunder only
growling at longer and longer intervals far above us
in the rocky heights of the Selkirks. We found the
waggon-sheet so good and easily fixed that from this
time we abandoned the tent altogether, and when we
used any covering at all, which in the first two months
was seldom, vve were content to rig up this sheet.
All it needed in tiiis countrN', where we invariably
camped among trees, was a couple of poles tied
together near their tops, like an X with two long
legs. In the fork reposed one end of a ridge-pole,
the other end being usually lashed to a tree, and the
sheet was just thrown over this ridge and pegged
down along its sides. At the Canyon Camp we slept
for greater safety from the mosquito with our heads
on the very edge of the precipice, thus getting a

Ca7iyon Creek.

draught up from the ravine which was sufficient on
this occasion to Ivcep the tormentors aloof.

An unfortunate bat formed our acquaintance at this
camp in a manner most unpleasant to himself. We
happened to light our fire over a little hole in the
ground which proved to be his den, and in a few
seconds the luckless inmate fled out squeaking most
dismally and hung himself up on the nearest tree. We
think, however, he was more frightened than hurt.

The next day, a very long one, was spent in
searching for the as yet invisible goats, and we made
two discoveries. In spite of all our trouble we were
still on the wrong side of the canyon, and could not
get into that part of the mountains at which we had
aimed ; and worse than this, other human beings had
lately been over the same ground. Goats undoubtedly
had recently been plentiful on this tract, as every
rough juniper or projecting branch was matted with
their long white hair, but we could find no fresh
tracks, and began to think of turning back. We
afterwards found out that a party of Austrians had
actually been up this same trail less than a month
before, and had had fair sport there, the natural
result being of course the departure of the surviving
goats from the persecuted region.

And now a new terror was added to us. The
mosquitoes had either followed us up from the lower
ground, or else a new kind had been developed, and
here on this high and open cliff we found ourselves
surrounded by, if possible, a worse plague than
before. The night was sultry, but there was no
help for it ; our only chance of getting any rest
was smoke, and we built a huge horseshoe of fire

ll!

lent on

I at this
f. We

in the
I a few
ig most
:e. We
hurt,
pent in
VG made
Are were
uld not
we had
ngs had
)ubtedly
s every

d with
o fresh
We

ns had
month

natural

Irviving

The

lower

td, and

Irselves

than

ras no

rest

fire

'/''ic Horse-shoe Fire: Can von Camp.

Page 94.

thi

daj

the

con

fen

and

the

said

whii

to-b

brol

quit*

disti

puff-

appe

agaii

these

luck}

only

of be

was

we ^

Canyon Creek.

beginning and ending at the edge of the canyon, thus
enclosing the camp in a fortress impenetrable truly
to the winged foe, but raising the temperature to a
barely endurable height. This was the iast straw,
and in the morning we were all up and swearing —
that is to say, breakfasting — at a very early hour,
unanimous (for probably the only time in five
months) in agreeing that flight was necessary. One
day's work on the down-trail was more than equal to
what occupied two long ones in the ascent, and about
the middle of the afternoon we were once more on
the banks of the Columbia. There we prepared to
commit ourselves and all our truck to a raft, death
by drowning or any other means being vastly pre-
ferable to being eaten alive.

The first thing to do was of course to light a fire
and make tea, which occupied ten minutes. Just as
the first cup was poured out the Skipper suddenly
said " listen," and over the mangled plum-pudding
which did duty for his face came a look of too-good-
to-be-true astonishment. Dead silence for a moment,
broken only by the ever-present " ping " of the mos-
quito and the sound of a human slap, and then
distinctly came to our ears the unmistakable puff, puff,
puff — puff of the Duchess. In another moment she
appeared round the bend labouring her tardy way
against the rapid stream. It seemed impossible after
these three awful days that we should have been
lucky enough to meet with such precision a boat that
only passed about twice a week, and made no pretence
of being punctual to within forty-eight hours, but it
was the fact nevertheless. In another ten minutes
we were once more on her hospitable deck, sur-

Canyon Creek.

|HI

rounded by all sorts of luxuries, and with not so
much as a house-fly to remind us of the purgatory we
had left. Best luck of all, our canoes were on board,

The "Duchess."

having arrived at Golden the evening before, so now
we had not a care in the vvorld,^ and could go on
up the Columbia with the lightest of hearts.

Canyon Creek.

Night came on, and when it got too dark to run
any longer with safety the Duchess was just tied up
to the bank. All her cabins and fittings being still
scattered about at the bottom of the river and on the
banks several miles below, each man selected what he
considered a comfortable spot and went to sleep; Jim
and Cardie in the body of a waggon which was being
taken up the river, while the Skipper shared a corner
with a black retriever and a red Indian somewhere
among the cordwood which served as fuel for the
steamer.

( 98 )

CHAPTER XI.

o
c
li

THE COLUMBIA.

With the first morning light we were away once more,
and this day for the first ti' unworried enough to
enjoy the lovely weather anc le ever-varying beauties
which at each bend of the river were presented to us.
At first the shores retained the densely wooded

Bliiffi on the Columbia River.

character which had hitherto distinguished them, but
soon this was changed for high bluffs with small scat-
tered clumps and isolated trees dotted about here and
there in a manner unknown to landscape gardeners.

The Coluiubia.

e more,
lUgh to
)eauties
I to us.
wooded

mi, but

^11 scat-

;re and

leners.

The soil. wh<

ibic.

pale yellowish

was a pale yellowish mixture
of sand and clay, sufficiently stiff in places to form
cliffs which even at a short distance had a wonderful
likeness to ruined architecture.

Ospreys abounded along tiie river, their nests
being most conspicuous objects, as they were very
large and invariably placed at the extreme top of a
bare dead tree, one overhanging the river just above
the funnel of the steamer. Ducks and geese literally

Ospreys /Vesf, Columbia River.

swarmed, not a few on the river itself, but many
more on the sloughs which branched out f»-om it on
both sides. Everywhere the belted kingfisher glanced
and flashed in the sun, and along the shores ran and
whistled the livelong day sandpipers innumerable.

Occasionally we had a little mild excitement in the
navigation of the boat through a particularly tortuous
channel, which in more than one instance ended in the
failure of the rudder to keep her head to the swift

lOO

T/ie Columbia.

current ; and at such times there was an ignominious
stoppage with our nose in the bank, and a great deal
of poling and the sort of language which is the in-
separable accompaniment of all nautical manccuvres.

On one broad reach a mink was seen in midstream
swimming across the river, and the captain, with a
sportsmanlike spirit beyond all praise, undertook to
run it down with the swift and elegant Duchess,
a proceeding somewhat akin to setting an elephant
to catch black beetles in the back kitchen. All hands
joined in this enterprise with great alacrity, and
clustered in the bows with sticks, chunks of wood,
and a landing net. The result was that in about
thirty seconds the " minx," as Cardie called it, had
dived and disappeared for ever, and the steamer hav-
ing carried away a Ir.rge portion of British Columbia,
had docked herself in a primeval forest, her decks
littered with the ruins of fir-trees, under which lay the
Indian, two of the crew, and Jim, all considerably
flattened out.

The next episode was the appearance of a raft
bearing down on us, containing three very hungry
looking men. They told us they had been lumbering
up in the woods, and in some wa}' they had run
short of supplies, and were doing their best to get
down to Golden, or anywhere where they could find
some food. Their raft was beautifully made of logs,
held together by three cross pieces which were dove-
tailed into them, a method of construction only prac-
ticable by the aid of a saw. This tool, with their
axes, a rifle, and a very little bedding, was all they
had with them. They hailed us as deliverers, and
were soon luxuriating in Sam's plentiful fare, while

iinious

at deal

the in-

ivres.

Istrcam

with a

took to

liichcss,

;lephant

11 hands

ty, and

f wood,

n about

it, had

ner hav-

olumbia,

r decks

1 lay the

iderably

a raft
hungry
ibering
lad run
to get
luld find
I of logs,
re dove-
[ly prac-
Ith their
lall they
prs, and
?, while

,•/ Kootciiav Indian A.Ii. ss. " Diuhcss."

/'it,"t' loo.

t
d

ai
w

\VJ

thes(

con''«

dowi

the ]

stick

as sh

vagab

I ! I

The ColnmbiJ.

lOI

their raft continued its voyage down the river. They
did not look comfortable on brjard that frail craft, and

" Thinks we to ourselves, here's a lessmi t») we,
They're just but a picture of what \ke might be ;"

and of what, but for our luck in meeting the steamer,
wc should without doubt have been about this time.

At times we pulled up at a pile of cordwood on
the bank and spent half an hour in refilling our decks
with the stacks of fuel necessary for our progress, for

On /Ht Columit'a If/'^Ouf.

these wood- burning furnaces have an alarming rate of
consumption. At one such place a ranchman came
dowii and mentioned that he had a letter to send in
the morning by the returning boat, and would just
stick it out over the river on a long pole to be caught
as she flew past, a novelty in postal collection.

Among our passengers was one of those curious
vagabond Englishmen whom one meets in every part

I02

The Columbia.

of the world, always quiet, nice fellows, ready to do
any one a good turn, and yet never materially pros-
perous, though often working hard enough to make
a dozen fortunes. This one was a miner, and a par-
ticularly good specimen he seemed to be. He had
evidently run through the regular degrees of com-
parison '' mine, minor, minus," and yet was as cheery
as if everything always went well with him, and very
hopeful about the success of a new find of ore he had
recently made up in the mountains. He had been
out of England twenty-five years, and had never in
that time met any one who could tell liim anything
of home. Finding thai Jim knew something of his
native place, a little village just a tandem drive from
Oxford, he was very pleased to have a talk with us.
We trust his mine turned out all he expected, and that
the unlucky wanderer has "struck it rich" at last.

It soon became a race against time whether we
should get to Windermere this day or not. The
river for a mile or two below the outlet of the lake
is very shallow, its bottom consisting of huge gravel
beds, the spawning ground for most of the Columbia
salmon, and at this late period of the year it can
only be navigated during daylight. The chief diffi-
culty (and this is not a traveller's tale) is caused b}'
the immense numbers of fish heaping up the gravel
in the manner familiar to any one who has watched
their habits in the old countiy, thus constantly
making changes in the channel. This, when a few
inches more or less are of importance, necessitates the
utmost watchfulness and care in making the passage,
the course being often altered many yards between

one vo3'age and the next.

The Columbia.

103

And so it was that up to the time of our arrival at
the salmon beds no one knew whether the captain
would attempt to get through. He determined to try
it, and with men and poles ready in the bows we
began to creep up between the gravel banks which in
many places showed above the surface. The river
here had at length lost the muddy snow-stained

er we
The
lake
gravel
umbia
it can
diffi-
ied by
ravel
tched
tantly
a few
s the
sage,
,veen

The Captain of ilic " Ihu/ifss,"

character which had marred its beauty hitherto. It
was now quite clear, and through the swirl and rijjple
of its cr3'stal waters we could sec the great sahuon in
numbers slowly moving away from the disturbing
steamboat. Darker and darker it grew, till we began

I04

The Coltwibia.

'■t

% "!; ''I

to fear that a halt would be inevitable. Still the
captain held on, while we in a cluster behind him
peered into the blackness and wondered why the
dickens he was such a donkey as to pretend he could
see anything, but at last with a " Who-whoop " and a
snatch of song he let us know that the highest gravel
bed was past, and we were saie on the lake.

Here we had still five miles to go, and it was now
so dark that the sides of the lake looked no blacker
than the rest of it, but the course was straight and
the water deep, and he said if he only had a compass
he could go o.i. This was soon provided, a pocket
one being placed on the deck, while a candle in a
tumbler with a hat behind it made a very passable
binnacle.

Presently some one pointed to a light straight
ahead : very small and bright it looked, like a clear
blaze at an immense distance. We steered for this
light a long time and it never came perceptibly nearer,
and we were all gazing t . it and guessing how many
miles away it was, when suddenly the Duchess
stopped, and the light resolved itself into a naked
candle which a man was holding above his head on
the shore of the lake close to a little hut. Such
a beacon is all that is necessary on these calm summer
nights. Thus ended our voyage in the Duchess, as
pleasant an experience as any used-up man need ask
for, and now began our real work.

Early on the morning of August 23rd nearly all
the cargo was landed with the greatest possible
speed, every minute being of the utmost importance
with the river falling so rapidly. Indeed it so hap-
pened that this was the last voyage for the season

all

Isible

lance

|hap-

ison

The Cohinibia.

105

on which the Duchess was able to get through the
spawning beds and into the lake, though she con-
tinued to run up the river (each time to a lower point
than the last) for several more trips.

Our present errand was to deposit stores for the
police contingent at this little log hut, where three
of them were quartered. That finished, we steamed
back a few miles to Windermere, where Cardie and
Jim, with the canoes anc a pocketful of money, were
landed to purchase or hire a couple of horses for
a little expedition in the mountains. The Skip^-^er,
with our other belongings, went on in the steamer
to a place known as Lewis's ranch, which ivc say
is about fifteen miles down the river. Lewis stoutly
maintains it is only twelve, but we think we have
said the last word on the subject now, unless he
writes a book to uphold his view ; and if he does,
we are prepared in a later edition to put on another
two miles.

V- ,\'

\s, as
ask

i'-

( io6 )

CHAPTER XII.

THE SINCLAIR PASS.

t! '4

Horses in this country are cheap, but that did not
spare us any of the rascally formalities which in the
old country are inseparable from the noble art of
horse dealing. Consequently it was five o'clock
before, as the romances say, " two weary travellers
might have been seen wending their way across the
dusty slopes of the parklike pastures surrounding
the city of Windermere. The steed of the foremost
wayfarer was of a strawberry roan hue, and it was
apparent that some forty summers had calmed the
fretful spirit which at some remote age had doubtless
animated the heart and heels of this venerable and
still handsome quadruped. That which the second
bestrode, or, to speak more accurately, urged before
him by frequent strokes of a stave and language of
considerable intensity, vras of a dull brown complexion,
and his beauty was of a unique type, being varied,
though not impaired, by one blind eye and one of
defective vision. He was further distinguished by a
foreleg on which the foot below the fetlock had been
twisted almost entirely backwards and never replaced,
and a general ungainliness and appearance of hopeless
idiocy, tempered by resignation, which his subsequent
behaviour in no way belied."

xion,
ried,
le of
by a
been
ced,
sless
uent

These treasures we had acquired, after listening to
enough falsehood to have successfully floated half a
dozen limited companies, for the respective sums of
£S los. and £Sf those prices including a good lariat
(or raw-hide rope) and the loan of a pack saddle. The
roan, whom we afterwards found to be a sterling good
horse on the whole, accompanied us for the rest of
our travels. The brown, who was without exception
the most awful wreck ever seen, turned out simply
invaluable for our present purposes, owing chiefly
to the various disabilities under which he laboured,
and which in the difficult country we were going into
effectually prevented his annoying us in any way.

It was amusing to hear the various horse owners
in their studied indifference so long as we were still
undecided as to which should obtain our custom,
for there was no lack of material to select from. At
Windermere an hotel had just been started, which
at once became the centre of all commercial trans-
actions, and thither came — quite by accident — many
steeds and their masters as soon as a possible pur-
chase was noised abroad.

But soon after the selection was made, and the
money and horses had changed hands, one benevolent
individual meeting Cardie casually mentioned that
" he didn't want to make trouble, but that brown
horse is reckoned to be the one that was stolen
from Jake, and Jake allows he's going to let day-
light through any one he catches with him." Another
disinterested stranger commenced, "Hello, why, you've
got the old roan, hev you?" "Why, do you know
any good of him ? " " Oh no ; nothin' partic'lar. My
grandfather used to have that boss down in Monta;/na ;

io8

The Sinclair Pass.

he was a reg'lar old timer. Oh, you'll find what that
hoss don't know of devilment ain't wuth knowing."
This perpetual " Why, you've got the old roan,"
became such an annoyance to us that we were glad
indeed to turn our backs on Windermere and all
its prophets of evil, and at last get fairly on our way
to Lewis's ranch.

That roan horse proved to be by far the most
widely known fact in B. C. : we never met any one
who did not say he had owned him ; and when at
last we fell in with an old old man who discovered a
brand which he said denoted that he himself had
possessed him as a foal some forty years before, we
felt proud indeed of our acquisition.

We had intended if possible to pick up an Indian
or two, or even a decent white man, to accompany us,
and act as hewers of wood and drawers of water, and
possibly, to some extent, as guides, but we soon found
that no white man at all suitable was forthcoming.
At last some one advised us to apply to a half-breed
named Baptiste. This worthy introduced Jim to a
young Shuswap, a mere boy, of unpleasant physiog-
nomy, who calmly demanded three dollars a day for
himself and two for his horse, a flimsy creature all
nerves and viciousness. As we felt sure that the
whole of the man's time would be occupied in catching
his horse, and the whole of the horse's time in trying
to dislodge his master, we had not much trouble in
deciding to manage without such doubtful aid. But
we hope the worthy people at home who send out moral
pocket-handkerchiefs to these interesting savages will
reflect that men who refuse to work under £i a day
and their food (horses and horse feed cost practically

The Sinclair Pass.

109

ndian
ly us,
r, and
found
jming.
breed
to a
siog-
y for
e all
the
hing
ying
le in
But
oral
will
day
Ically

nothing here), are perhaps not such fit objects of
sympathy as some of their fellow creatures who have
the disadvantage of a white skin.

The fact is, the noble red man has been over-
estimated. We appioachcd the subject without any
prejudice — if anything with a slight predisposition to
be pleased with him — and on the whole cannot truth-
fully reconmiend him.

The very name of " noble red man " is throughout
delusive. To begin with, he is not noble ; his im-
passive dignity and austere reserve are pure inventions
— in fact one of his most amiable characteristics is a
tendency to play practical jokes and to be intensely
amused at trifles, and the only reserve we noticed was
the " Indian Reserve " marked on the maps. He is not
red — at least we don't think he is ; but he has so many
layers of dirt on him that though in the summer time
he has very little clothing to cover his geology, still
we cannot swear that our vision has ever penetrated
his stratification down to the real skin : what we have
seen is a smoky kind of tan colour. And, finally, about
half the time he is not a man, for as the women all
ride on both sides of a horse at once, and are if
possible plainer, and in other respects more like them
in every way than the men, who on earth is to express
any decided opinion about it ? So we are annoyed at
the Indians, and this demand of five dollars a day at
once decided us to become our own guides during the
whole of our stay in B. C, and put up with the little
loss of time that would naturally be the result of
dispensing with all assistance.

The path followed by Jim and Cardie led them
along the river, where Shuswaps and a few Kootenay

The Sinclair Pass,

:it

Indians were busily engaged in spearing the spawning
salmon ; across the Reserve, the best land in this part
of the valley, dotted with cabins and lodges ; past a
ranch where a kindly English greeting received them ;
over creeks, and up and down interminable dusty
pastures, with occasional attempts at irrigation ; but
it was late at night before they caught sight of the
blazing fire which the Skipper had kept up for their
guidance on a high park-like bluff overhanging the
Columbia. There that wretched individual was found
in a state of collapse from the awful way in which
he had been baited all day by relentless hordes of
mosquitoes, which here actually seemed to be worse
even than in the forest. Tent-pitching, bread-making,
and the higher branches of cookery had all been
found hopeless, and our only resource was to make a
hurried meal of Edwards's Desolated (or is it Deci-
mated ?) soup, and roll ourselves up in the blankets
spread without preparation of any kind on the parched-
up grass. A man does not trouble to cut fir branches
or erect shelters when he is being punctured and
poisoned to distraction. And oh ! the relief when for
the first time the bright moon seemed to bring a touch
of frost with her, and we could uncover our faces and
drink in the cool fresh air, free from the hateful insects
which had so persistently tormented us.

It was the 24th of August when we left Lewis's
ranch, rejoicing in the possession of a cow-bell which
he kindly lent us, and began the ascent of the Sinclair
Pass. Near its mouth some men were constructing
a government waggon-road, intended to connect Golden
with the head waters of the Columbia, and to be
produced onwards in a southerly direction to Wild

The Sinclair Pass,

1 1 1

)eci-
ikets

iches
and

1 for

louch
and

Isects

ns s
rhich
iclair
:ting
|>lden
be
ild

Horse ; possibly at no distant date still further. It
will in any case be of immense advantage to the whole
Columbia and Kootenay basins.

We asked the first of these toilers if he knew
anything about a trail through the pass, and were
promptly told there was one on each side of the creek,
which we could at rare intervals discern far below us
in a rocky and thickly wooded gully ; that they were
equally good ; and we could take which we liked. Our
evil genius prompted us to try the right hand, and
after struggling about a mile through obstructions of
every kind, which increased every moment, we per-
ceived that Ananias was a mere amateur by the side
of our informant. With great difficulty we transferred
our cortege to the left hand of the ravine, where we
found a decent trail, and a man who told us that there
never was or could have been one on the other side.

This trick of misleading the unwary traveller is
one of the Columbian idiosyncrasies. By a few well
directed inquiries you can lay in a greater store of
misinformation in this country than anywhere else in
the world, not excepting the West of Scotland or the
South of Ireland. As far as we can make out it
arises not from any wish to cause trouble, but from a
reluctance to confess ignorance on the subject under
discussion. We advise travellers to be very sceptical
as to the answers they may receive, and to ask as few
questions as possible.

The Sinclair Pass is very picturesque, with its creek
of ice-cold limpid water hurrying down from the most
westerly raiige of the Rockies, fringed and in most
places hidden by the masses of pines and firs, and in
some places birches and giant cedars, which abound

I 12

The Sinclair Plxss.

throughout its length. The hixuriance of the various
underwoods, buck-brush, wild roses, and berries of
many kinds, the never-faiHng shimmer of the white-
leaved quaking asp, and the multitude of wild flowers,
are in their way equally beautiful. Being no botanists,
we call these flowers marigolds, chrysanthemums, sun-
flowers, and michaelmas daisies, and they have the
merit of looking like what we call them even if they
are not. A short distance from the entrance of the
pass a huge wall of the most brilliant red rock is
reared far above the forest on either side, narrowing
the ravine until it appears impossible for the trail to
find its way between the columns of this stupendous
gateway. We had just attained to the base of the
wall when a very threatening sky warned us to
penetrate no further on this day. Here level ground
had ceased to exist : some at an angle of 35° or
thereabouts was the best that could be found, and
before the drenching thunderstorm broke over us we
had rigged up the waggon-sheet on this steep slope
as a protection for the night. In a very short time
everything was comfortably settled, and we were
peacefully enjoying a good supper in spite of the
pelting rain.

The difficulties of the sloping ground were overcome
by pegging four parallel rows of logs across the floor
of the ''tent" at distances of about 30 inches from
each other, thus converting the sheltered portion into
practically three steps or berths, with a difference in
level at each succeeding step of about 9 inches. A
very little removal of the soil from the higher to the
lower portion of each berth made a flat foundation for
a bed, of which the logs formed the sides, not only

The Sinclair Pass.

irious

es of

I'hite-

iwcrs,

mists,

, sun-

e the

f they

of the

Dck is

owing

rail to

mdous

of the
us to

Tround
5° or
, and
us we
slope
t time
were
f the

Ircome

floor

from

In into

ice in

Ito the

)n for

only

preventing tlic sleeper from rolling down on to the
man in the berth below, but adding greatly to the
warmth by keeping the clothes tightly tucked in. A
layer of spruce branches completed the arrangements
for an absolutely luxurious sleeping apartment.

The only real drawback to this camp was the
difficulty of getting water ; but after the Skipper had
fallen down to the river twice, he took an axe and

C?;

^>''/J*'-^

''■■^''t^:iU^.

'-•'^■' V r

: i'^^.

"\. •";*^.:*p*

^'"'^Si^'i

Camping under diJjicuUics : the Sinclair Pass,

soon constructed a kind of half ladder, half incline,
up which it was possible to drag a small allowance
without any serious danger to life or limb. And
here, let it be noted with a very red letter, the
mosquito ceased to trouble, and the weary were at
rest.

The history of our journey through the pass would
be one long recital of difficulties and dangers from the
badness of the trail, which was about as demoralised

114

The Sinclair Pass.

^ 1 .4^

a one as could be imagined. It was made, W(' believe,
about t\vent3'-five years ago by a surveying party, and
since then has been used once a year by a party of
Stony Indians who have been accustomed to cross the
range by its help for the purpose of trading with their
cousins on this side. Indians never take any trouble
to make a trail more passable than is barely necessary
for their immediate wants, preferring always to cir-
cumvent a fallen tree rather than cut through it. The
reader will therefore have to strain his imagination to
its utmost limits to form any idea of the present state
of a road which never was more than a tangled and
precipitous track, and which has been steadily in-
creasing its barricades of fallen timber for a quarter
of a century.

At one time we were cautiously winding round the
face of the wonderful red rock already spoken of, at
another after a sharp descent across its scattered
fragments we reached the very bottom of the canyon,
where the steep cliffs rose sheer on either side and
seemed almost to meet far above our heads, their
frowning crags and fir-clad ledges shutting out the
light of day, while the trail, uncertain of its course,
crossed and recrossed the rapid foam-flecked torrent.

In such a place it was that our brown horse
thought fit to pause for meditation at a moment when
he was up :o the girths in the middle of the stream,
while his miserable masters were disconsolately
perched around on trees which spanned the ravine
and were used as bridges whenever a crossing-
became necessar3\ It was good to hearken to the
objurgations on the one hand and the blandishments
on the other, all addressed to this unworthy animal,

licvc,
', and
:ty of
>3 the
their
ouble
;ssary

cir-
The

ion to
: state
:d and
ily in-
[uartcr

nd the

1 of, at
ttercd
any on,

c and
their

at the

OLirse,
rent,
horse
when
ream,
lately

Ravine

)ssing

|o the

lents

liimal,

T/ic Sinclair Pass.

151

and the thrill of agony which involuntarily pervaded
the remarks of both sides whenever any movement
of the steed denoted a half-formed desire to repose
his wearied frame in the cooHng waters of the creek,
all laden as he was with uur flour, tea, and clothing,
valued at that moment at about fifteen shillings per
pound.

Again leaving the watercourse, we climbed up
and up, until high above the big trees and dense
undergrowth of the valley we wound our way along
sparsely timbered hillsides, the track composed of
hard loose shingle something of the nature of road
metal. In these places the difficulty of maintaining
a looting was perhaps not lessened by the know-
ledge that one false step would hurl horse or man
down some hundreds of feet into tiie gloomy canyon
far below, with every prospect of remaining there.
Once indeed the roan horse caught his pack against
a tree on the upper side, knocking himself clean off
his legs ; but it chanced just where this happened
there grew a good-sized pine which received his
whole weight, and fortunately was able to support
it until with a scramble he managed to recover him-
self and regain the path. Often long halts were
made until a way could be chopped through or round
a newly made block, and still more often our better
judgment went to the wall, and an obviously risky
passage was attempted to save trouble, meeting in
most cases with better luck than it deserved.

At last at an awkward drop in the path, the brown
horse, which was being led by Jim, came down on
the top of his head, and was with difficulty withheld
from rolling down the precipice until we got him

ii6

The Sinclai" Pass.

free from the pack and succeeded in propping him
on his feet again. This animal was what they call
in B. C. a " balky " horse, which means that he was
shy of encountering any perilous obstacles until he
had thoroughly inquired into their nature. As his
right eye had prematurely paid the debt to nature,
he had considerable difficulty in examining any matter
of interest on that side. Wliencver he imagined that
danger awaited him, he would stop and solemnly
twist his head round until his nose pointed over
the saddle, thus ingeniously bringing his sounder
eye to bear on the object of his fears. In this
attitude he presented a grotesque appearance, and
we think when frequently performed the operation
made him giddy ; anyhow it was during such an
inspection of the drop before him that the accident
happened

Cardie, who had charge of the roan, and was im-
medi:itely behind, had an unsparing flow of language
in condemnation of Jim's carelessness, which he said
was wholly accountable for the misfortune. The
latter, who never submitted calmly to correction,
whether deserved or not, retaliated in a spirited
manner, so that for a few minutes the welkin rang
with the most unchristian sentiments, uttered in tones
adapted for conversation with a man at the other side
of the canyon. Just however as Cardie was remark-
ing how he should have approached that drop, the
discussion was abruptly terminated by the roan
toppling forward into the small of the orator's back,
whence he cannoned into a mass of ra&i:/!:erry bushes.
Here he luckily stuck fast until the pack could be
rescued, when by main force we pulled him back

the

«■

■\

tH ii!

The Sinclair Pass.

117

on to the path, Cardie not being heard to analyse
the exact causes of the disaster.

All these little episodes took time, and we had not
reached the highest point of the pass when it became
necessary to stop. A camp was made on a beautiful
little sandy beach, just at the junction of two creeks
which from this point flowed down to the Columbia
as the one river v'hose course we had followed so
far. In the fork between the streams towered a
magnificent mountain, of which, however, only the
lower ridges could be seen from this position, and
on either side the banks were covered with beautiful
firs. Here also was a profusion of raspberries, and
a blue berry not unlike a large wimberry, but growing
on a bush often several feet in height ; this is known
as the Service or Si wash (the latter word meaning
Indian) berry, or the Sasketoor, and is good.

( ii8 )

CHAPTER XIII.

MUTTON.

This camp proved an uncomiiionly cold one, and had
he further disadvantage of having no horse feed
nearer than about a mile away. A very eaily rising
revealed the fact that the roan had " skipped out "
from the grass where he was tethered, and made off
homewards. Cardie went after him, with instructions
to bring him back if he had to follow him to the
Pacific ; the Skipper climbed up the opposite moun-
tain with a rifle ; and Jim conducted various domestic
affairs, such e'^. baking, washing, and clothes mending,
to a successful termination.

Cardie captured the wicked old roan about three
miles from home — a piece of good fortune we had
hardly hoped for ; and consequently he and Jim were
able to strike camp and get away over a much better
trail before eleven o'clock. This day was so fine, and
everything went so prosperously, that the site of an
old Indian camp which was reached about one o'clock
seemed too soon to stop, and as usual no other place
presented itself for several miles. About four we
crossed and left behind us the creek, now dwindled
to a small brook, and soon afterwards passed what
we rightly guessed to be the watershed, and in a few

Mutton.

119

more minutes came to a little lake out of which ran a
good-sized brook, bound like us for the Kootenay.

This lake was the most extraordinary green colour,
with just a tinge of blue, and through its wonderfully
transparent waters could be seen every stick and
stone at the bottom, with a few aquatic plants rising
to the surface. Swimming placidly about in every
part of the lake were numbers of small fishes, which
we next day found to be of remarkable excellence.
The scene was one never to be forgotten, the fairy -
like pool with its emerald mirror of unruffled water
reflecting the lovely forest which rose from its shores
in one unbroken mass of foliage, till it reached the
stern lines of the rocky summits, capped by the
dazzling snow. The shore was thickly fringed with
wild rose trees, and the dark forest on this side
carpeted with velvety green moss and the small
curraiiMike leaf of a red berry, which we found no-
where in Canada except here, but remembered well
as one of our familiar friends in Norway.

From the lake onward tlie trail became very bad ; the
steep hillside over which it travelled had been visited
by a severe storm at some recent date, and trees lay
piled across the path in dozens. In many places the
only course open to us lay down the bed of the rapidly
growing stream which danced along by our side.
And then the forest changed again, and we reached a
tract where no big trees grew, though prostrate trunks
of ancient giants of the grove were plentiful enough.
Here the forest-fire had left its baleful mark, in the
charred and twisted stems of a young pine-wood.
All the trees were about one size, from four to six
inches in diameter, and the fire seemed to have

120

Mutton.

occurred at some time when the sap was well up in
the young bark : this being at any rate our way of
accounting for the extraordinary shapes into which
the lifeless poles were twisted and distorted as though
writhing in helpless agony.

We passed through several similar parts at various
times, and very unpleasant facts in our travels they
always were. After five minutes* walk through such
trees we were as black as colliers ; the labour was
terrific, as the hooped stems were interlaced and
plaited in cork-screw-like coils of wood as springy as
whalebone and as tough as steel wire, so tough that
it was impossible to break and very troublesome even
to cut it with an axe. To add the last drawback, it
would not burn — except on a roaring fire of other
wood, although to all appearance perfectly dry.
However, one could see daylight and get a glorious
view of the snowy peaks around through the bare
and blackened bones of this skeleton forest, and the
ground at any rate had recovered and even received
a new beauty from the effects of the all-devouring
flames. As far as the eye could reach it was one
feathery mass of pink with the blossom of the flower-
ing willow, interspersed with patches of an enormous
columbine, graceful in its foliage as a maiden-hair
fern. The horses, we found, considered these plants
to be food; so, not without misgivings as to what they
would think on the morrow, we unpacked and turned
them loose to revel in the bounteous store provided,
and by night-fall were comfortably housed in the
Black Camp.

Into the midst of this peaceful scene strode the
Skipper in a simply fiendish temper, because after

Mutton.

121

wandering all over the Rocky Mountains all da}- he
had descended to the last halting-place, the Cold Camp,
expecting tea, only to find himself deserted. It was
obvious to the meanest capacity that he must have
spent his ten miles of solitary travel in inventing new
abusive epithets and terms of reproach, some of which
did him the utmost discredit.

His mouth was finally stopped with much food, and
after a period of distant coolness he told his story
thus : —

" Directly after I crossed the creek I came on a
very fresh track of a large sheep which had been down
to the water and returned up the mountain by a faint
trail, no doubt made by himself and his relations. I
thought I might as well go the same way, but it was
an awful climb for the first two hours, through pine-
trees and a good deal of undergrowth. At the end
of that time I had accomplished the first ridge, belt,
or whatever you like to call it, and now came a series
of undulating mounds on which the timber had all been
blown down. This was not quite so steep as the first
piece, which was as n( arly vertical as any hill could
with self-respect be, but the travelling was on the
whole worse, and in this part my sheep tracks dis-
appeared. At last I got to timber-line, and from this
point upwards the mountain was bare of everything
except rocks, and in sheltered nooks a few stunted
clumps of pinons and juniper, huddled together to keep
some little warmth in their dejected bodies. All this
time I saw nothing living except the inevitable wood-
pecker and a jack-rabbit, and kept crawling up more
and more discontentedly till I reached the top of the
mountain. I don't mean to say I got to the absolute

122

JMiifton.

!i!

ill

top, because of course you know there is no top
to a big hill like this — there is always another top
a little topper than the one you are on ; but still I
was on a very decent top, and felt contemptuous of all
the lower tops. I ate a lot of berries "

" Eno is the best antidote," interrupted Cardie.

The Skipper heeded not " first, a very noble

supply of lovely coral-like beads about the size of a black
currant, but the most beautiful colour ever seen ; they
were juicy, but not remarkable for flavour. The leaf
was a darkish dull sage green, about the shape and
roughness of a primrose leaf, but not so large. Then
there were plenty of wimberries or blueberries, and
another berry which seemed to grow on blueberry stems,
and which I call the red blueberry. This was green
before it was ready to eat, and a dark dull crimson when
it was ripe, and it was just as good as a blueberry ; but
the green ones, well, all I can say is you had better not
eat these red blueberries while they are green. All
about here there were lots of sheep tracks, and many
of them very fresh, and at last I chose a line which
they seemed to favour, and began cautiously to descend,
with my eyes as wide open as possible.

" Soon I came into the neck of a kind of shallow
gully running steeply down the mountain, in which
was a good deal of grass and that fern-like herb which
you north country folk call sheep's-grass ; I shouldn't
wonder if it is as popular with the wild sheep as the
tame. Likewise there were many wild vetches, which
I expect vetched them exceedingly. Anyhow, they
seemed to like this valle}^, and the x, sixty yards away,
staring straight at me, was the father of all sheep, a
grand old ram. He was much annoyed at me for

, %

Mtition.

123

is no top
another top
; but still 1
)tuoiis of all

Cardie.

very noble
ze of a black

seen ; they
The leaf
; shape and
irge. Then
;bcrries, and
berry stems,
s was green
-imson when
cberry ; but
d better not

green. All

, and many
line which
to descend,

of shallow
., in which

I herb which

II shouldn't
peep as the
phes, which

•how, they
lards away,
111 sheep, a

at me for

coming down to disturb him — at lunch, I think — but
hadn't quite made up his mind how to resent it when
I fired at him, and though I had an easy shot, and was
sure he was hit, he turned and bolted over the hill,
and was out of sight in an instant. It was awtully
steep there, but I gingerly followed his track towards
a hopeless precipice, and just when I had become re-
signed to his loss, suddenly came on his corpse lying
on the very <^^^,q: of the rocks, and stone dead."

" So unusual in a corpse, you know," murmured
Jim.

The Skipper flowed on — " I had lost my knife, and
had nothing to tie him up with."

" No, of course you hadn't," burst out Cardie, who
is always in a state of fury on this question, the all
important one of whether a man can expect any luck
if he goes out prepared with all necessaries for dealing
with a slaughtered victim. " I do think you are the
biggest etc. etc. etc."

The Skipper peacefully ambled along — " So I
skinned him with my pocket-knife, and wrapped up
his tongue and some liver and fat in the skin, then
strapped it all up with my glass strap, and chucked it
down the precipice, as I dare not attempt to carry it
down. Well, it took me half an hour to get down
myself, and I nearly broke my neck seven times, and 1
couldn't find the skin at the bottom."

" Of course " began Cardie again at the top of

his voice, and the Skipper mildly concluded —

" I gave it up, and struggled home through more
precipices and more logs and bogs and hooped trees
than you fellows ever saw or dreamt of, and here I
am dead beat ; and I say, Cardie, I should like to

124

Mutton.

( II

li I

1 j ■

M
: ii

know what you'd have done to get that sheep's head
off if you had lost your knife."

" I should have shot it off," said Cardie with great
promptitude.

" Oh, well, it would have fallen over the cliff if you
had." And once more the camp was hushed in sleep.

We stayed here two days, and caught heaps and
heaps of the little charr out of the green lake. They
were all of one size, about five to the pound, and quite
lovely in their colouring. Naturally the Skipper
persisted in calling them trout ; because, as he sagely
remarked, "they are speckled and rise at a fly,
therefore they are trout from my point of view."
Cardie and Jim hunted over the highest mountain, but
found it destitute of game, and of almost everything
else, being entirely composed above timber-lin>^ of the
hardest, barest, and ruggedest rocks ever seen, varied
only by occasional snow-drifts. One thing it could
produce, and that was views. On the one side we
could see the Kootenay river winding along the valley
like a marvellous greeny blue ribbon ; on the other
the far away peaks and glaciers of those splendid
mountains, finer even than the Rockies — the Selkirks,
a noble background to the smiling Columbia valley,
which lay spread out like a map, every slough and back-
water clearly shown, to all appearance at our feet.

The absence of game induced us on the second
day to fetch in some mutton from the old ram, whose
body we calculated to be lying about twelve miles
away. Accordingly, early on a Sunday morning, we —
that is, Jim and the Skipper — set out with rifle and
hatchet, walked back to the Cold Camp, where we
picked up a piece of bacon and a candle end, and

Mutton,

I 2

sheep's head

ie with great

be cliff if you

ihed in sleep.

it heaps and

lake. They

nd, and quite

the Skipper

as he sagely

ise at a fly,

nt of view."

nountain, but

it everything

er-lin>^ of the

' seen, varied

ling it could

one side we

w^^ the valley

»n the other

)se splendid

he Selkirks,

bia valley,

h and back-

ur feet.

the second

ram, whose

elve miles

ning, we —

rifle and

where we

end, and

;.,-;

then crossed the creek and began to climb the moun-
tain on the sheep-trail.

The first thing that occurred was the Skipper's knife,
which was lying where it had been jerked out of its
sheath by a jump from a fallen tree. The next was
a glimpse of a brownish body leaping through the
brush for a moment before disappearing in a small
valley, and " deer " was whispered as rifles were made
ready. But on reaching the edge of the valley and
looking down we could make out two mounted Indians
followed by a young foal, which was the animal we
had seen, and to our disgust, as they came nearer, we
perceived that hanging over the saddles were the
quarters of a large sheep, and, most ominous sign, no
skin. Two big dogs of the usual half wolfish Indian
breed accompanied them, and the inference was obvious:
these wretched poachers on our domain, as we had
fondly thought it to be, had with their vile hounds
discovered our sheep, and were bearing him off in
triumph. The thought was not to be borne, and the
Skipper startled one of them badly by suddenly rushing
down the hill to them (for until then they had not
seen us), while Jim stood at the top ready for the
shooting to commence. The Indians and the sheep
were put through a careful examination, but without
any satisfactory conclusion being arrived at. They
declared vehemently that a third In Jii'i was following
with the skin ; and the Skipper said he could not
swear to the sheep, which looked smaller than he had
thought his to be, but of course it must be the same.
So we reluctantly let them depart, and with the most
uncharitable feelings again turned our faces to the hill.
Higher and higher we went till we came to the line of

1 26

Jllntion

\ i'l^

valleys in one of which it was that the sheep had been
killed, and here with immense anger we came on the
tracks of the Indian horses. But we kept on, and after
great difficulty in crossing some of the ravines which
cut deeply into the mountain side, came at last to the
place, and there to our astonishment and delight was
the carcase of our sheep, untouched by Indians, but
minus one quarter, which had been devoured by a
wolverene. The head was quite unharmed, and no
wonder that the Skipper was unwilling to speak to
the identity of the Indians' prey, for his sheep was
very much larger, a particularly fine specimen. The
horns, which were very perfect and symmetrical,
measured 33f inches from base to tip along the outer
curve, and were i6| inches in cir iference at the
base, though the latter figure is lir .o some reduc-
tion for shrinkage in comparing it with that of other
well-known specimens, the largest in the British
Museum being \6\. Together, aided by the ropes
we had brought, we managed to drag the dismembered
body to a place where we could work in safety. We
guessed the weight of the head to be 70 lbs., and a
long time was occupied in cleaning it and getting it
packed on the Skipper's back, while Jim was laden
with about 50 lbs. of a hind quarter and the kidneys
and remains of the liver.

And then began the homeward journey, which we
had carefully mapped out by observation to save a
matter of four or five miles of country. The success
of this new route was marvellous. We got down
without difficulty over the smoothest and least encum-
bered ground 3'et seen ; it was nearly all loose red
shale, very much like the burnt spoil-banks common

Mutton.

I 2

ad been

on the
md after
2s which
St to the
iaht was
ians, but
•ed by a
, and no

speak to
ihecp was
ten. The
mmetrical,
; the outer
ice at the
3me reduc-
at of other

ic British
the ropes

smcmbcred

fety. We

|bs., and a

getting it

was laden

|hc kidneys

„ which we

to save a

lie success

o-ot down

^ast encum-

ll loose red

ivs common

in colliery districts, dotted with scanty herbage. This
shale was also plentifully tramped with sheep tracks,
which indicated that we had chanced upon their
favourite road up and down the mountain.

Everything went most swimmingly till we reached
a little creek which ran into our own, and between
which and the trail we knew there was only about
half a mile of ground ; but a half mile through which

"k>r

liriiii^imy Home the Mutton. A /'unit I'oir.-t. 28/// .ii/j^iist.

we had not been able to plan any particular passage.
We rested at the creek for a little, and ate raspberries,
and gathered a stalking-glass case full of service-
berries, and in great spirits commenced that little half
mile. It was a burnt plantation of hop-poles, and if
the most censorious critic of this book may be
condemned to walk through them just once, we shall
be satisfied, whatever he may have said. About two

1/ ^„A.^ Ill

128

Mutto7t.

hours after entering it, we struggled out on to the
trail, black from head to foot, cut, scratched, bruised,
clothes torn, limbs racked, tempers unspeakable, and
parched with thirst from the fine charcoal dust with
which at every movement the air was filled. A mile
more we toiled along the trail, and lo, in the centre of
a b'^autiful little green plot which had one? been used
as an Indian camp was our taithful roan, and near
him thoi pack-saddle, a fire neatly laid and only wanting
a match, water drawn, bread provided, and all the
appliances for a supper. All these Cardie, for want of
anything worse to do, had though ttully brought down
from the camp six miles or so ahead.

How we enjoyed that meal, rather too much in fact,
for the sun had set before we had packed ever^'thing
on the horse, and were with renewed vigour urging
him along the trail, rejoicing in the luxury of nothing
to carry, after being twelve hours on our legs.
Probably no horse and men ever went so fast over
that path before or since ; but in spite of all our speed
we could only manage to reach the little lake before
absolute darkness had set in. We had still nearly
two miles to go over a trail here so indistinct that
even in the daytime it was only followed with difficulty.
Two minutes after entering the bad part we were
hopelessly tangled, and knew that to keep on the path
was an impossibility, and to reach camp without
keeping on it was another impossibility of a deeper
dye, so there seemed nothing for it but to stop where
we were and wish for day. But just as we reluc-
tantly made up our minds to this, Jim suggested that
we should put to the test the much vaunted sagacity
of that noble animal the horse. So we placed a noose

Mutton.

t2g

on to the
1, bruised,
kable, and

dust with
[. A mile
e centre of

been used
, and near
ily wanting
ind all the
for want of
)Ught down

luch in fact,

, everj'thing

;our urging

of nothing

our legs.

10 fast over

11 our speed
llake before

still nearly
distinct that
;h difficulty,
t we were
n the path
p without
f a deeper
stop where
we reluc"
;ested that
d sagacity
;ed a noose

round the neck of the roan, wherewith, if needful, to
choke him, whacked him, and committed ourselves to
his guidance. It was so dark that often the horse
two yards in front was a mere sound, and would but
for the rope have got away from us, while the path
itself was always invisible, and the trees across it Oiily
discovered by the aid of a staff or a shin. He went
along as fast as we could walk, with his nose down to
the ground, as if smelling the road out like a dog,
and made not a halt or a blunder until the light of the
camp fire and Cardie's cheery holloa told us that our
labours for this day were ended.

Never any more do we scoff at the intelligence of
the horse, which really does seem to be a fact, and not
a poetic fancy, like the filial affection of tlie phoenix,
and the sympathetic grief of the crocodile.

And the memory of the supper we had that night
will dwell in our hearts for aye.

Menu.

Fi's/i. — -iS Charr. ' ' ;

Eh tret's.

Kidneys J

1 >iver
Marrow

,- de Mouton du Montagnc.

/oint. — Biftcrk au Uighorn Sauvage.
Pcasoup.

( I30 )

CHAPTER XIV.

THE KOOTENAY.

The burnt patch was not of great extent, and the
next region we came into was one of damp soil,
favouring the growth of enormous trees, with under-
wood of gooseberries and currants, and a most repre-
hensible path. One stretch there was where we left
the little brook, now quite a brawling torrent, and
climbed up on to the shoulder of the lower range of
hills, and then down a rapid descent into a gloomy
forest of huge dark pines. There no squirrel leaped
or voice of bird was heard, the sodden moss-grown
soil lay unmarked by hoof or paw, and the unnatural
stillness of the air depressed the spirits, and made us
all thankful to reach a high steep bank, down which
we made a last hurried plunge to a flat grassy terrace
about lOO feet above the Kootenay river. The poor
horses, deprived of grass for so many days, ate till
we feared for their safety, and we in a really com-
fortable camp at last, with lots of mutton, and a
river at our feet, were no less pleased than they.

With regard to that mutton, we will just say that
it was pre-eminently the very best meat that sinful
man ever tasted, and ve find it to be an admitted
fac*^, contrary to what one would expect, that though
all wild sheep are good, >iie old rams are the best.

The Kootenay.

This Kootenay valley is a lovely spot, perhaps
rather awful in its lonely grandeur, but with pleasant
companions not a bad place to stay in. We found
on a flat sandy beach below us, bordered with pebbles
and covered with sage-scrub in wliich resided nume-
rous grouse, the poles of several old Indian lodges or
" tepees." Near the river was the framework of a
boat apparently of white man's design, ingeniously
constructed of bent fir branches tied together at their
joints by the fibrous roots of the tree. Hidden in
the brush we discovered also two rough paddles. We
conjectured that this framework was used for crossing
the stream by the aid of a temporary covering cf
canvas or skin, and it was obvious from a number
of blazed trees on the opposite bank of the river that
the trail continued its course on the other side. The
stream, which was here about 70 yards wide, ran
very fast, and there was a bad rapid immediately
below our camp, in which no sort of boat or swimmer
could live. We determir 1 to build a raft so far up
the stream as to ensure a li '^sing being made without
risk of these rapids.

As soon as this triumph of naval architecture was
completed, Jim and the Skipper, armed with two poles,
essayed the perilous passage.

It was an anxious moment as the raft, after swing-
ing gently once round the whirlpool in which it was
launched, felt the suck of the stream, and with a little
assistance from the poles began the actual ossing.
It took us just three seconds to realise that poling
was impossible, for the crazy craft would not stand
the strain of any forcing against stream, but showed
signs of going down by the head whenever we

132

The Kootenay.

attempted to get a purchase against the rapidly
deepening bottom, and with one accord we commenced
paddling instead with our unwieldy poles. The result
was that when in a very damp and exhausted condition
we reached the further shore, we were a good deal
nearer to the rapid than was pleasant.

The forest across the river was totally different
from the gloomy wood of the western bank, full of
life, with squirrels, white-winged crossbills, and jays
in great numbers. It was delightful to climb through
it and up the steep mountain sides, up, up to the
desolate crags where trees are not, where nothing but
the sparse grass grows among the cliffs, and no track
is found but that of the wild sheep. In the dense
timber we found for the first time the spoor of elk
(Wapiti), but too late to follow them that evening, and
we returned by the friendly raft.

Before we could make another voyage it was
necessary to take the ship up the river, further away
from the rapid. Against such a stream this was no
easy matter, but it was accomplished by the united
wisdom of the party.

Jim flourishing a thick stick, and mounted on the
brown, who was for this occasion only provided with
a breast-band and traces terminating in a tow-rope,
waded up the side of the current, while the Skipper
assisted on the raft with a pole, and Cardie on lIic
bank by occasional hauling, and perpetual shouting
and " cussing around permiscuous." Finally we
arrived at what was agreed to be a sufficient distance
up stream, and Jim having with great skill dis-
mounted on to the raft, bestowed on his unhappy steed
(in token of dismissal/ a whack of such neartiness

e rapidly
Dmmenced
rhe result
1 condition
good deal

r different
ik, full of
, and jays
lb through
up to the
Dthing but
d no track
the dense
oor of elk
ening, and

e it was
ther away
is was no
he united

id on the
[ided with
|tow-rope,
Skipper
le on tlic
shouting
lally we
distance
skill dis-
)py steed
leartiness

1 ■ ■'*'■,' ' /

.1 »

.■>

The Kooteiiay.

133

that he immediately fell off into about three feet of
water. He climbed on again, and abused the Skipper
for the occurrence in such a ruffianly manner, that the
latter, who for a wonder felt innocent, replied : —

(3^

■c^

134

The Kootenay,

At this camp we hunted and fished right merrily,
for the water, which when we first arrived was too
" riley " for fishing, had now fined down, and the
river produced those beautiful silvery crisp-fleshed
trout which seem peculiar to snow-fed waters. The
last time we crossed, our ferry boat lay so near to
the rapids that we felt certain the return would lead
to trouble ; but Cardie shouted that he would bring
the rocket apparatus, and with that we had to be
content. And so it was that before we were within
twenty yards of the shore, we felt the gliding dip
which marks the commencement of the run, and in
a moment were tossing in all the turmoil of the
battle between rock and river. But Cardie was
all ready with the lariat, and his first throw sent
the line straight between us. A few seconds more,
and the raft under his vigorous pull gror^'ded near
the land, broke away once, and grounded v^^ain more
securely, in water shallow enough for us to get
ashore with the firearms and rod, which for safety
had been lashed to it. Then we freed the ropes
which bound the old thing together, and so our trusty
ark departed in five pieces on a voyage of its own,
and was speedily swallowed up in the turbulent
eddies of the headstrong river.

The eastern bank of the Kootenay is difficult
ground to traverse ; from it rises another (the
middle) range of the Rockies, finer in some respects
than the western group we had already passed, and
just now splendid in robes of newly fallen snow,
which reached far down the seamed and riven sides,
and at sunset were lighted up with the most glorious

J. »^

The Kootenay.

135

ruddy glow long after the valley below was buried
in the gloom of night.

We do not prop'^se to take the reader any further
through the story of this part of our journey. Suffice
it to say that it was with great regret that we turned
our back on the Kootenay river, where we had spent
such a quiet untroubled time, and once more braved
the discomforts of the Sinclair Pass. Time had run
on until we had almost exhausted the supply of
flour with which we had originally intended to follow
the river down to another pass, and so cross the
range to Windermere. Without ample provisions
this plan over unknown country was not to be
thought of; but our experience of the Sinclair
enabled us to make the return journey through it
in a greatly reduced time.

The horses were loth to leave their pleasant
pastures, and the roan signified his displeasure by
falling down in a thoroughly forlorn manner about
a quarter of a mile from camp. We got him up and
repacked pretty soon ; but in another hundred yards
he went down again, and lay there the picture of
helpless prostration. Then it was that a memory
of those words, " What that boss don't know ain't
wuth knowing," came over us, and our pity and
anxiety ceased. We cut large sticks, and the roan
began to take an interest in life once more ; we
approached him, and he struggled to rise ; we raised
the sticks, and he got up ; we brought them down,
and he did a " best on record " to the top of the hill,
and never tried that little game on again.

We went much faster than when covering the
same ground before ; lunched at the Black Camp,

136

The Kootcnay.

'■\ i

where, instead of unloading, we propped the packs
by a couple of crutches at each side, thus relieving

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^ Kootenay Indian and his Lodge,

the horse of all weight on his back ; and in good
time stopped at the little green pasture, where the

^ iy '

riii

The Kootcnay.

^11

the packs
s relieving

* '1

poles of two Indian lodges still stood, ready for the
next comers.

For the benefit of any one to whom the shape of
these lodges is a novelty we will here describe them.
From ten to twenty poles are used for each " tepee,"
sixteen being about the best number. These are
straight and nicely trimmed, about two inches in
diameter at the foot, one inch at the top, and fifteen
feet long. Four (or sometimes three) are joined
together about a foot from their top by a loose band
of twisted withy, and are then set up in a conical
form, the base of the cone being about fifteen or
sixteen feet in diameter. The remaining poles are
simply laid in the forks of the original four to com-
plete the framework, their lower ends being about
three feet apart, and as nearly in a true circle as
can be managed. Over the framework is stretched
the canvas, which is now almost invariably used
as a covering by the Indians, though still in some
few places may be seen tepees of bark or skin. It
is provided at the top with two ears, one at each side
of the opening which serves at the bottom as a door,
at the top as a chimney, the space between these
two necessary holes into a house being fastened
up with wooden skewers. Hence tlie well-known
Indian nursery rhyme —

"This little Injun maid

Was very mucli afraid

That her lovers would come to woo licr,

So she crept into her tepee

B As soon as she felt sleepy,

,| And fastened up the door with a skewer ;"

in good I

diere the 2 'ind very skewerly it is believed she fastened it.

S^u

'^flp

138

The Kootenay,

The smoke from the fire in the centre of the lodge as
a rule goes out properly, but if any difficulty should
arise on this score, it can generally be dealt with by
a little manipulation of the two ears, which are each
provided with a pole, and together act as a cowl.
We can only say further that a tepee is the very best
movable dwelling yet devised by the wit of man.

The Skipper stayed a couple of hours to fish in
the Emerald Lake, and presently arrived with a huge
bag full of the finny prey. Asking the way to the
water, he was told by Jim, who was bin y cooking:
" Go in at the front door of that lodge, and out at
the back, and you'll find a trail " — a direction which
suffered somewhat in lucidity from the fact that the
sixteen poles were all exactly alike. This made
it a little difficult to discern which two constituted
the door. "Is it far?" the Skipper wanter to know.
"Oh, just get on the trail, and keep sti ppi ig till I
tell you to go on," was the satisfactory answer.
Jim, when his mind is occupied with Irish stew, is
a truly exasperating person.

The trees round this place were of exceptional
beauty. The last fire seemed to have occurred about
twenty years ago, and the present forest showed
wonderful health and vigour of growth. " It seems
sad," as Cardie moralised, " to think that all these
millions of beautiful firs should have grown up and
spent twenty years of their life just in order to provide
this one for our sleeping-logs ; so wasteful, isn't it ?
I don't see that we can possibly do anything with all
the rest. I guess they'll go on living for another year
or two, and then comes a fire, and away they all go
into the Ewigkeit." Thus musing, he drove the axe

The Kootenay.

139

into the side of a Douglas fir, that would have been
simply priceless on a lawn at home, muttering that
''it was lumuL-ring up the camp, and its stump would
make a good kitchen dresser" {i.e., a chopping block
convenient for th.. dismembering of squirrels and the
beheading of charr), and with a few strokes brought it
crashing to the ground.

We met in the course of this Sinclair expedition
three different kinds of grouse. One frequented the
mountains about timber-line ; this was a large dull-
coloured bird, which Cardie declared to be the same
as the Blue Grouse or Timber Grouse of Colorado ; but
which is more correctly, we believe, the Dusky Grouse
{Dendmgapus Obscttrus). Above it is a dull mottled
grey ; underneath a bluish slaty grey ; tail black,
with a grey band at the tip ; total length about
20 inches ; weight about 3 lbs. These, from the
larder point of view, we considered excellent chicken,
but inferior as game. They, like most of the other
grouse in this country, fled into trees on being dis-
turbed, and there sat while the wily hunter adjusted
his sights and got a fly out of his eye, seldom going
quite away until after the discharge of the rifle.

It will give some idea of the excessive steepness
of the mountains to tell of the first of these grouse
which fell a prey to Jim. He had just reached the
very top of a sharp knife-edge which made the actual
backbone of the range, when he spied the head of a
bird poked out from behind a rock a few yards ahead.
To blow this object into smithereens was, as the
novelists say, " the work of a moment ; " but on look-
ing over the ridge for the body, nothing but a patch
of blood and feathers was visible, many feet below.

I40

The Kootenay.

Ten minutes' cautious climbing, and another peep over,
and lo ! another patch of blood and feathers more feet
below ; and so on and on he was led from ledge to
ledge, always expecting the next one to hold the
victim, and getting more and more determined to
secure it. To make a long story short, that bird fell
more than a quarter of a mile : the slayer was standing
on the western side of the Rockies, yet the slain was

The Canadiati Grouse {Dcndragapus Canadc-isis).

picked up in the eastern valley, and the pursuit of the
headless corpse occupied so much time that nothing
remained for the hunter but to climb down tiiC rest of
the mountain and go home.

Another bird first seen here was the Fool Hen. or
Canadian Grouse The cock in full plumage is an
exceedingly handsome bird. Above, black mottled
with grey ; breast, a rich black with clear white tips to
some of the feathers, as is often seen in a red grouse ;

The Kootenay.

141

a wonderfully vivid scarlet comb over the eye ; and a
black tail. The hen is not so gorgeous, not unhke a
grey hen. Size rather under that of the red grouse;
say about as large as a Scotch hen-bird.

The popular name for this fowl is well-merited.
As a rule you don't see him, but if you stumble
upon him, he flies to the nearest tree and stands
there until something happens to him. The Skipper
brought some home one day which he had en-
countered while on the look-out for sheep. These
were on the ground at a distance of about 12 yards
when he discovered them, and there they remained.
So he began to shoot at them, and at each shot
moved a yard or two nearer; till at length losing
patience at not being able to hit them, he picked up
some stones, and with their assistance soon exter-
minated the brood.

When he came home and we pointed out to him
.hat his rifle had the 200 yards sight up, his remarks
were un improving.

The Fool Hen is the best Canadian grouse we are
acquainted with, though that is not the verdict of his
own countrymen. His flesh is of two colours, like that
of the red grouse, and he more nearly approaches that
inimitable bird in flavour than do any of the other
transatlantic counterfeits.

One other we saw among the open scrub on the
banks of the Kootenay. This was one of the sharp-
tailed grouse, probably the Columbian variety ; u
greyish bird with irregular V-like markings of vary-
ing shades of brown and a little btack : its feet
feathered with pale brown. This was just the size
of a red grouse, but only chicken to the epicure.

9HMHi

142

The Kootenay.

ijiiP'ii

iiiii

..■:i;

ill

'1! II li

Two days' travelling saw us once more on the
bluff near Lewis's ranch above the Columbia River,
reduced to our last bake of flour, and all our other
provisions exhausted. At the very moment of our
arrival there came faintly over the water the familiar
puff, puff, puff — puff of our good genius the Duchess,
and in a few minutes she had run her nose into the
mud below us. Jim was quickly on board and
loading his pockets with milk, tomatoes, salt, and
other luxuries ; besides getting our first English
mail, and writing a lavish order for more stores to be
brought up on the steamer's next trip. And then she
was gone, and instead of her panting came the
equally familiar " ping " of that diabolical being from
whom we had so long been free, the never to be
sufficiently execrated mosquito.

The country here is as different from that we had
left as if they were a thousand miles apart. There
we had rain — though never very much at a time —
every day. But here ever^^thing was parched and
dusty, just as we had left it, and after the brilliant
verdure of the other valley, not by any means
inviting. Never shall we forget the toil of fetching
water up that nearly perpendicular bluff, ankle-deep
as it was in dry sandy loam. We knotted all our
ropes together, making a line almost long enough to
reach the water, and when a man had filled his tins,
he fastened the end to his waist, and was hauled
bodily up by the fellows on the top.

It was almost worth while to have endured the
miseries of the night in order to see the effect of
the rising sun on the Selkirks far across the river.

The Kootenay.

143

As the highest peak caught the first gleam it
shone out with a wonderful glowing red above the
cold white mists which encircled it. Then one after
the other the lower ridges kindled, and rock and
glacier blushed and glittered as the bright beams
crept further and further down the vast expanse,
throwing into deeper shadow the dark clefts and
making more prominent the jutting crags, until the
flat hazy sheet of dulness that a few minutes before
was spread before us shone out into a picture radiant
with a glorious wealth of colour ; and the artist
himself, whose magic touch had performed this
miracle before our eyes, peeped down on us from
the top of the Rockies. Only one thing that we
have seen can be compared with this first glow of
the sun on the Selkirk range, and that is tlie
lingering light of his rays on the Rockies as he
sinks behind the western mountains. Yet with that,
beautiful beyond words though it is, there is a feeling
somewhat akin to sadness which is absent from the
morning hour.

Not that our mornings do not very frequently
commence with a good deal of sadness ; at least if
wickedness and evil tempers are really as certain to
produce unhappiness, as the copy-books assure us they
are. Personally we incline to the belief that "the truly
good are not happy, and the truly happy are not good."
Anyhow it is not wise to say a word to any one of
our party before breakfast, least of all to Jim, who is
specially prone to jump down the throat of the foolhardy
person who does so. Therefore we all look at the view
and mutter to ourselves until nature has refreshed

144

The Kootenay.

herself with a frugal meal, until, in fact, each man
has eaten enough for all three ; and then, and not till
then, our conversation is filled with gems of poetic
fancy, and " friendly " does not approach to being an
adequate description of it.

1 11 III

% ii

II i

( 145 )

CHAPTER XV.

THE INDIAN RISING.

On the evening of September 4th we passed a little
ranch on our way to Windermere, where two men in
a very advanced stage of intoxication were shooting
with a rifle at some object, which from the diversity
of aim exhibited we supposed to be the Rocky
Mountains. They met us with entreaties to go no
further, as the Indians had risen and were massacring
all the white folk in the country. Two Kootenays
had been arrested for murder some time back, and
having been brought to Windermere to be tried, the
rest of the tribe had taken this means of expressing
their hatred of litigation.

A little questioning elicited the admission that the
Indians had not actually risen yet, but were all
assembled round Windermere, and would undoubtedly
break out on the morrow. A possible revolution
had no terrors for us equal to certain starvation
and a very fair chance of getting shot if we stayed
wlihin range of our informants, so we pressed on
for Windermere, Flour, and Bacon. One word
only passed between us in this thrilling moment :
"Will you volunteer for active service if there
really is a rising ? " " No, by George ! " " Noble
fellow, no more will I." And with wars, alarums,

■^'

11! r'i,' •

146

T/ie /vidian Rising.

and excursions thus encompassing us we arrived
at tlie liotel, and once more had chairs to sit
upon. The Indian rising we found to have had a
very slight foundation : the two Kootenays had
really been arrested and tried, but as they were
acquitted, any rescue would have been a w'ork of
supererogation. As a matter of fact none had been

i!i l!i !!!ll,:i

I m

The (lovenimcnt House — Lake Windermere,

i:'r

planned, but somehow the rumour had got about,
and whisky and fright had done the rest.

At the hotel we " boarded " to save trouble for |
a day or two, sleeping at night, whenever thei
mosquitoes were troublesome, in the Government|
House, which Mr. Vowell, the Gold Commissioner^
had kindly put at our disposal, and on the grouiK
outside whenever they ceased to molest us.

We drew the canoes from the brush in whici

we arrived
lairs to sit
have had a
itenays had
. they were
a work of
me had been

The India^i Rising.

they had been hidden, and a very jolly lazy time
we spent during the days that we were obliged to
stay here waiting for our expected stores. We
paddled a good deal, and bathed " some " (for this
lake alone of the B. C. waters was pleasantly warm),
and fished with fair success for the white-fish and
squaw-fish which abound in it. The latter name

ten:

got about,!

trouble for
whenever the|

Government|
Commissioner,
ti the groundi
Jus.
Iish in whiclij

T/ie Kitchen — Windermere Store.

is not flattering either to the fish or the squaws,
but really it is difficult to say which has most
cause to grumble : we cnn only state that this fish
is the ugliest it has been our lot to meet, and is
said to taste worse than it looks, which we simply
don't believe. They ran up to about 8 lbs. in weight,
and took a minnow freely, in fact they took two
of our best Devons freely home where they lived,

148

The Indian Rising.

\\\\

liiii

but they would not rise to fly. The white-fish
also took a minnow, but were not so large, and
having very small mouths, were much better caught
with a small dry fly. They afforded excellent prac-
tice for casting, and were by no means too easy to
capture. On the lake were always ducks of several
kinds, some grebes, and an occasional flock of geese ;
but as we were supplied with food from the hotel,
they did not come within the scope of our operations.

The city of Windermere consisted of the hotel,
with two rooms, a kitchen, and a loft ; the store, with
two rooms ; and the Government House, with four
and a cellar. All were newly built, the last mentioned
one being barely finished, and at present guiltless of
chimneys. The other two were inhabited, but in a
very primitive and unkempt state; and the cooking
of the store was at this time conducted in a rather '
picturesque open-air kitchen.

It hardly seems likely ever to become a very great
place, but no doubt for some few years it will
advance rapidly — as long, in fact, as the good ground
round about is big enough for new-comers. The
supply of this is — as everywhere else in B. C. — strictly
limited, and this cause and this alone will, we fancy,
prevent any great influx of settlers. In every others
respect Windermere is naturally a charming spot,
the lake and its surroundings lovely, and the com-
munication, now that the new road is being pushed!
through, quite good enough.

Our stores at last arrived in one of the flat-
bottomed boats known as " bateaux,'' which carry on!
the water traffic after the river has fallen too low fori
the steamers. These boats are from 30 to 40 feet in

The Indian Rismg,

149

t white-fish
I large, and
etter caught
cellent prac-
too easy to
cs of several
.ck of geese ;
m the hotel,
ir operations,
of the hotel,
lie store, with
se, with four
ast mentioned
nt guiltless of j
ited, but in a j
d the cooking |
d in a rather

length, and carry a wonderful amount of stuif with
very light draft. They are manned by two, three,
or four of a crew, who have a very hard — though

ind the com-

of the flat-
liirh carry on I
In too low fori

to 40 feet inl

■- .-;-\>*^--'>:^'w- .;>-^ri-;.- ■■■■"■■. ■■,-'f-.-''^

-8t«JUs ■

"•■:^t:*'

"!SjS'^S*;S!V^- ;

■/

L». -

\ \

■ .

•,

A Columbia River '' Bateau,''

lucrative — time of it during their short season. This
one had been plying continuously up and down the
lake and a few miles of river for three days and

ff-,'

150

The Indian Rising.

■;iilf

ir^^

li il I',!

'li !

li 1;

nights. The men had two hours' rest at the lower
end of each trip, but no change of crew, so no
wonder that the poor fellows looked pretty nearly
played out. They were a cheery, good-tempered lot,
too, and excellent company at dinner, for which they
snatched a hurried quarter of an hour.

The cook at the hotel, who was amusing when he
had any time to speak — which was seldom — told us
that he had been with the Austrians who went up
Canyon Creek after the goats. He said that one of
them snipped off with a pair of scissors the proboscis
of a mosquito, just when the creature had inserted it
to the depth of about half an inch into the back of
his hand, "and," he continued, ''you bet your life.
you never saw such a scared mosquito as that. He
just sat there and sucked and sucked away, and got
worse and worse bothered, because the more he

sucked the more he didn't get anything " but

here he had to hurry away, and we lost the remainder
of the veracious narrative.

Here also we met a man who explained to us tha:
it was no wonder we saw so little game in th(
Sinclair Pass, for the Stony Indians had passcc
through only a month before, and of course hnc
scared away everything they did not kill. He addeq
that they were never going through again on accounl
of the hardships they endured, but that was littlj
consolation to us. We, as the poet sings —

"Loathe the poor Indian, whose untutored mind
Leads him to kill whatever he can find," &c.

A party of Shuswaps came to the hotel while wBe
were there, and to see the start of the cavalcade w2»o

The Indian Risino.

i^i

t at the lower

crew, so no

pretty nearly

d-tempered lot,

for which they

lusing when he |
seldom— told us
s who went up |
said that one of I
rs the proboscis!
I had inserted itj
into the back of
3u bet your lifej
ito as that. He^
:d away, and got:
je the more hc^

thing- "_ bul^

)st the remainder'

lained to us thar|
le game in the
ans had passec
of course hac|
kill. He addei
[again on accouni
that was littl?
Isings —

lored mind
id," &c.

le hotel while vj
Ihe cavalcade w

as good as a circus. All the horses seemed to be in
the most fidgety state of nervousness. All had to be
blindfolded to commence with ; then there was such a
scuffling and rearing and squealing before the riders
could mount, which they did from the uft-side, each
armed with a square stumpy piece of wood furnished
with three thongs like boot-laces for a whip. Then
the bandages were removed, and with wild yells
the party vanished in a cloud of dust of their own
raising, with ropes trailing along the ground beliind
them, and as much fuss and parade and general
fictitious excitement as a band of Frenclimen will
make when a-hunting they do go.

We had been unable to get either a bridle or a

saddle for our future journey. But having tools with

us, Cardie soon manufactured a very good pack-

I saddle of a slightly modified shaj , which enabled us

at a pinch to use it for riding by strapping a rug

over it. A greater difficulty was the bit, as there

was not a scrap of iron of any kind to be had for love

or money. Jim at last devised one by carefully

Irolling up the metal of an old tomnto-can in a tight

Icoil, and this when soldered along the joint, and its

[ends bored out to receive two rings, was a complete

success. The latter he fashioned out of some strong

)rass wire which was included in our stores, making

the joint with a long splice and solder. Leather and

"ivets we had with us, and the rest of the hcad-piecv,

/as easily finished.

The cook was greatly interested in these pro-
:eedings, and wanted to know — " Where did you
fellows learn to tinker ? Darn me if any one in this
tountry can do it like you." We explained to him

152

The Indian Rising.

ii;

I ! ! I

III I hi

that our public schools and universities now taught
nothing else, that tinking had in fact superseded
thinking among all classes and professions, and that
our grandest old statesman was the greatest living
exponent of the art.

Thus newly equipped, the roan horse and a light
pad set out with Cardie on the morning of Sep-
tember 9th, along the trail towards the upper end of
the lake. The lamented brown we had re-sold to his
late master at a depreciation of five dollars.

The Skipper and Jim, with heavily laden canoes,
were to reach the same destination by water ; the
understanding being that we should " meet at the
first place on the river where the trail came near it."
The reader, we hope, understands that there are two
Columbia lakes, connected by about twelve miles of
river. Windermere is situated on the eastern shore,
about five miles from each end of the lower lake.

We trust that last sentence will satisfy those
hypercritical people who object to such descriptions
as " the middle, or half way down, or up, or along,
or midway of, the lower lake."

Such a lovely morning it was as we gently paddled
over the placid surface of the lake, calling at one
ranch, where the owner presented us with some
capital potatoes, and doing a little fishing and shoot-
ing as we went along. The climate tends to produce
a slight haze very frequently in summer, and the
numberless forest fires no doubt increase the dim-
ness of the atmosphere, so that generally the distant
scenery has that shadowy unsubstantial appearance
which gives a charm lacking in those regions where the
air is free from vapour, and mountains at fifty miles

now taught

superseded

)ns, and that

catcst hving

: and a light
ling of Sep-
upper end of
re-sold to his
irs.

aden canoes,
Y water ; the
meet at the
ame near it."
there are two
elve miles of
:astern shore,
ver lake.

atisfy those
descriptions

ip, or along,

sntly paddled
lling at one
with some
and shoot-
,s to produce
er, and the
se the dim-
the distant
appearance
s where the
fifty miles

•^

iM;!ii"l

lllillllihl

!■'! ill illil

illli :^tllll

!ll!!!l i!i!jl,:i;i

Ii!!llii

^mm lii' I'

The Indian Rising.

are as hard and clearly defined as the nearest bits of
landscape. This was an especially hazy day, and the
lake looked interminable as on all sides it melted into
the air without any line of demarcation between
them ; but the distance was not great, and about mid-
day we reached the last rushy bay where the little
Police store-hut was situated, while behind it could
be seen the white tents of the few men quartered
there, and horses grari jg on the hill above.

The river ran in at the western corner of the bay,

The Northern Phalarope {Phahiropus lobatu:,).

and thither we directed the canoes. The inflow was
bordered by enormous reed-beds, round which swam
and flew many hundreds of what the Americans call
mud-hens (i.e., coots), and a fair sprinkling of duck.
Here also, alternately swimming, flying, and, as it
were, running on the water, was a small flock of
Phalarope; the Northern (lobatus) kind as we judged
from its scalloped toes.

Above the rushes soared a bald eagle, which Jim
asserted to prey upon the mud-hens, and he wanted
to know " what well-known lady of title that eagle

154

The Indiayi Rising.

resembled ? Why, can't you see, the noble Bird ate
Coots." But his canoe did not capsize, and still we
paddled on.

We had now penetrated far up the river, which was
broad, shallow, and ran at a fair pace; but the higher
we went, the narrower and swifter it became, and the
denser and wilder grew the vegetation on the banks.
When we were nearly two miles from the lake, we
perceived that we must give up all hope of meeting
Cardie on the river, and turned back to the Police
Camp, where we expected to find him waiting for us.
By this t"me evening had come on, and it was too
late to do anything except camp. We spent the rest
of the evening with one of the Police and the well-
known traveller and hunter Baillie-Grohman, """ho was
on his way to conduct the canal-cutting be;,v. • n the
upper lake and Kootenay river.

The " Bobby," as Jim irreverently termed the
soldier, was just as smart a young fellow as need be,

one of those whom our infern we mean our

highly organised competitive system annually shuts
out of our own army. He had been unable to pass
out of Sandhurst, and being really keen, had enlisted
here, and was doing uncommonly well. He told us
how he had been put to guard the two Indians who
had been brought down for trial, having passed the
night with one of them chained to his leg, which he
naturally did not much care for, but in most respects
was enjoying his present life amazingly.

The other Police were very obliging, but neither
they nor any one else could tell us much about the
river between the two lakes, which was variously
stated to be anything between four and twenty-four

The Indiati Rising.

155

e Bird ate
id still we

which was
the higher
e, and the
the banks.

2 lake, we
)f meeting
the Police
ing for us.
t was too
nt the rest
I the well-
I, v'ho was
ilween the

rmed the

3 need be,
nean our
illy shuts
e to pass

enlisted
e told us
ians who
ssed the
,vhich he
respects

miles long. They suggested that we should send our
baggage up by the waggon-road which tho Government
have made, for the rapids were said to be almost
impassable even to an empty canoe. We were very
glad to take advantage of this, and accordingly next
morning before daylight we put everything except
guns, rods, axes, and ropes into a waggon which was
transporting their stores.

The Skipper having discovered that the lark does
not flourish in these regions, is always boasting that
he rises with that overrated bird. He did not see

American Coot {Fulica Americana).

any larks when we had to turn out at this unearthly
hour, especially when he becime aware that a musk-
rat had been playing the fool in his canoe all night,
and had scattered it full of bits of rush and sticks
and other debris. But all this was speedily rectified,
and soon after seven o'clock we once more began the
ascent of the river. The mouth of it was simpl/
black with countless multitudes of coots, and as we
turned the corner of the reed-bed and came suddenly
upon them, they rose with one accord, making the
most prodigious and almost terrifying sound that we
ever heard produced by birds, more like the roar of

156

The Indian Rising.

a mighty hurricane than anything else to which we
can compare it.

At first the ascent was easy enough, not requiring
any propelling power except paddles ; but soon these
became insufficient, and we had to land and manu-
facture a couple of poles for each canoe ; and so by
slow degrees we forced our way up the now rapid
and perpetually winding stream, shut in on all sides
by thick woods and huge rushy marshes, the home of
geese and ducks innumerable. About noon we came
out into a sheet of water about a mile long, which
rejoiced in the euphonious title of Mud Lake, and
deserved it ; for though the water was clear enough,
the bottom was a deep tenacious sediment from the
river. Here for the first time since we came into
ihe country a strong wind was blowing : we don't
suppose for a moment that there was any elsewhere,
but as a wind is the most troublesome thing that a
canoe can have to deal with, we naturally were not
surprised to get it. By hard paddling we got across,
having a little bit of consolation in seeing that one
of thes*^ much-vaunted Indians, a little ahead of us,
was making even worse weather of it than we, though
to be sure his " dug-out " was such as Noah might
have employed as a dingey to the Ark whenever the
hippopotamus wanted to go ashore. Where the
upper length of river ran into Mud Lake we found a
small colony of these natives, looking very damp and
uncomfortable, in an amphibious kind of dwelling.

Just above this, at the first turn in the river, a
splendid eagle-owl flew out of a tree right over our
lieads, and forty yards in front of us perched on a
low branch directly overhanging the stream, where he

The Indian Rising.

157

awaited cur coming with a very angry look, elevating
and depressing his horns, and giving us as good a
view of him as could be wished. He was a grand
specimen, but we had no chance of being able to
carry skins along with us, and cartridges were too
precious to be used on any but eatable birds, of
which we had already accumulated a number suffi-
cient for our wants, so we allowed him to go in
peace.

Now began the really tough work of the voyage.
The river had become a rushing torrent, blocked in
all directions with snags and barricades of fallen
trees, and the next six hours were spent in over-
coming these obstacles by the means most suitable
for each new device of the enemy. To those who
believe in the direct intervention of the Devil, the
condition of this liver is a matter of easy explanation,
but as in these days it has become the fashion to
treat Beelzebub as a kind of Mrs. Harris, and to
assert that " there ain't no such person," we are
afraid to state positively that he had spent a fortnight
or so on those last four miles. But we think he had.
We had plenty of towing line, but the banks were
so thickly overgrown with all manner of brushwood
that any attempt to walk on them was hopeless,
and in many p'aces even landing was impossible.
Paddling was almost useless, and poling very slow
and univmunerative work. In more than one place
we were obliged both together in the water to lift
the canoes bodily over opposing ogs. Once we came
to such a rapid place that the passage was only
accomplished by Jim — who had nothing on but a
shirt and belt, and found even that superfluous

'58

The Indian Rismg.

clothing — towing from the middle of the stream, while
the Skipper wielded a pole. Even then, in spite of all
our care, they shipped a good deal of water from the
rapidity with wnich it raced past, as by sheer strength
they were hauled through the waves.

The Lulie proved a better boat for this work than
the Hope, from her superior size, and consequently
was generally a long way ahead, waiting at impos-
sible places for the Skipper to arrive. The latter on

./ •..;

... •/.. ". J^.

Between the Columbia Lakes, lofk Sept.

one occasion coming quietly round a bend of the
river, found Jim engaged in what ho was pleased to
call " salmon-fisliing." Armed with his light single-
handed trout-rod (which, however, was provided with
100 yards of line), he was nearl}^ waist-deep in the
chilly stream endeavouring to capture one of the
diseased-looking monsters with which the river was
populated, every shallow and gravel-bed holding
them in numbers, while the bodies of those which

The Indiail Risihg.

159

had met an untimely death were s^atl^ered along its
shores. And once more does the mention of this
add to our grievances against the Indian. He
without scruple of conscience goes forth with torch
and spear and gaily slaughters as many fish as may
seem good to him, while the poor white man who
has been properly brought up is constrained by his
better feelings to angle in an orthodox manner, and
consequently to catch nothing.

Here by the way is a picture of Jim's " fly," the

baimon 'Cu

only one we believe by which the Columbia i^almon
can be allured, as they do not rise at the more
ordinary European patterns. We are told, however,
that they take a minnow or spoon in and near the
salt water, that is to say, 600 miles below this spot.

The swiftness of the current prevented Jim from
being successful in his dastardly design, though what
in the world would have happened to him and his
rod if perchance the fish had been hooked is and will
remain a dark and deadly myster}', and what earthly

i6o

The Indian Rising.

use we could have made of the miserable mangy
creature if by accident he had been landed is an
even darker and deadlier one.

In loi^ hours from the start, nearly all of which
had been pretty hard work, we were rejoiced by the
sight of the old roan standing on a high bluff near
the river, and immediately' afterwards Cardie and the
tents came into view. Then the river settled down
to a sedate four miles an hour, and wc knew that our
toils were over for that day at least. In a few more
minutes we were at our own camp fire, where surely
never did wild duck and bacon taste more delicious ;
for all this day a few biscuits had been our only food,
the provisions being with the heavy baggage which
the waggon had safely deposited with Cardie.

rable mangy
anded is an

all of which
Diced by the
jh bluff near
rdie and the
ettled down
lew that our

a few more
here surely
- delicious ;
r only food,
gage which
die.

.<:

■<;

( i6i

"-^

CHAl'JER XVI.

CIIARR.
Tins camp was an
'■■?'•" having fa„e„;t,,,,'-;P™''"3- "ice place. A li«,e

";""<=f'.-«Hy o^-er tl,e rive, ICJ't ^""'y '"°""^'
■^"■fcl,oC ""dulating gj/s \„,f ^'"^' "^ ^vas a fair
'-""i "'ere in tlie nnrf ;i ' ' "'"^^ ^-^'•""^''"i here
"-' country, and bC™ d tlr""" ^''"-'-•■^'ie o
^■^"ge, tl,e first step of the r", •°'' ' ^"^^P '^'oo^d
^■'•^'■y near to us, and 100^.,"'' '""''^'' ^<^'^ were
;; '"ey were with n j'slfn'"""'^ «-' --red
fb«Whalfan,ileto the so uthT 7'V° "■"b^'-linc.
I-nke, with the river !.„!, ^^ "'" ^PP^-- Columbia

^ '-earn was occupied by nJ 1 ^"''^" ''"-'' °^ ">e
f-'ghs, and at intervals cllr''1^. '""^''°"'^ '-•'-'
"c?=. o'- bright green and ^7' °.^ '^''^ Sr.cn fir-
^Pnnkh-ng of scarlet f^n, '. "°"' ''"■c'-^' ^^'th just a
"gl'ts we have already ".dti° ^ "''"^'•' ^^^'^
b'oad level valley of h^ •! 1 "'" ^''°''-' '■"'•"'ing a

? ^^"^"-fc 'ange, and far bid t , ' '^""'■'^'"^ "^ "'e
-■ow-crowned sun,mit, "" '''" °"'J'"<= of their

'^ot far from the r-,m„

''--^ a richT,ornri:,l,f '''-'•- we

' '" ^'^^^cJi we worked a

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)

1.0

I.I

1.25

^' Ui 112.0

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fliotographic

Sciences
Corporation

23 WEST MAIN SfkEET

WEBSTER, N.Y. MfSC

(716) 872-4503

&/
^

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162

C/ia/

'r.

short time with gratifying success. Hard by was a
ranch known as Geary's, the name being also applied
to the landing at our feet, which was the end of the
waggon-road and the point of departure for the
bateau which was plying upon the upper lake. Geary
himself came to see us, and encouraged our labours
in the " mine," which turned out to be " his." We
thus secured some of the best and largest potatoes
ever seen, reminding one of those which used to
flourish «i Evans's in the time of Paddy Green, when
we were merry boys together. From him we learnt
with great satisfaction that our canoes were the first
to find their way up the rapids, though not the first
to attempt it. " They all play out over that," was
his comment on the question.

A short way up the mountain was a spot known
as the Hot Springs, where two natural basins
contained clear running water at about 90° and 120°
Fahr. We were exhorted by the habitues to try
the effect of a bathe, which we were assured "as a
novel and charming experience. One man told us
he found the most fascinating way was to soak a short
time in the 90° spring, then plunge into the ice-cold
water of a little creek hard by, and finish up with the
I20^ "Great Scott, and vou live to tell the tale?"
" Well," he admitted, " I only tried it once, and cer-
tainly I did feel pretty bad for a week, and to tell
the truth I have never been free from rheumatism
since. But just try it now ; you never felt anything
like it, &c. &c."

This anxiety for the rest of mankind to share in
one's own misfortunes is of course not peculiar to
B. C. We seem to have read of something like it in

iEsop's Fables ; and " the most disgraceful thing I
ever read, do look," " I never smelt anything so nasty,
just smell," are sounds we have heard in our happy
English homes : but it certainly is as rife here as
anywhere else.

The two romancers who apprised us of the Indian
rising were very enthusiastic about the merits of a
mineral spring they had discovered, which they said
must be "very valuable." On inquiry we learnt that
its value consisted in killing every creature less hardy
than a grizzly bear that ventured to taste of it. The
ground near it they declared was always strewn with
the bodies of birds and beasts, whose craving for
patent medicines had thus hurried them into the
Hereafter ; and they were convinced that if only we
would get some capitalists to take an interest in the
matter, and make a business of bottling and export-
ing the water, that there was a large fortune in it.
Perhaps they were right. "Aqua Borgia: from the
natural spring, B. C. — 3s. 6d. per dozen — a charming
present for mothers-in-law, tax collectors, and itinerant
wine-merchants," would probably for a time command
a ready sale.

Birds were very plentiful here : the large Canada
Goose, and a smaller one with a white collar, which
we took to be the Black Brant, Mergansers, Mallard,
Greenwinged Teal, Black Duck, Bufnc-headed Duck,
Wilson's Snipe, and Long-billed Dowitchers, were all
common ; while in the daytime we had the song of
the Western wren, and at evening the graceful flight
of the Whip-poor-Wilis to entertain us.

Under these circumstances we enjoyed life very
much, and our menus began to rival those of the

164

Cliarr.

J''

> i ,

l'^ I

iijyjiii,

^flii

' f

( 3

C.P.R. One night we had Coot- slew, with a tin
of Dislocated soup added to improve its flavour.
This the Skipper called Potage du Bal. "That's
wrong," remerked Jim innocently ; " I shot them with
the scatter-gun." " I call it Potage du Bal," ex-
plained the Skipper with pride, " because it tastes
of Coot and tinny." And when Cardie complained
that this jesting on the mud-hen was becoming mud-
henous, it was felt by all that, coute que coute, it must
be stopped.

But revenons a nos mud-hens. We are always

Whtp-poor- Will [Antrostonuts vociferus),

very strong on the theory that everything, however
lowly or objectionable, has a great and useful purpose
in the economy of nature, even embracing in this
catholic faith wasps and green-fly : the use of wasps
being, as we are instructed, to consume the green-
fly, and the use of the green-fly presumably to afford
food for wasps. Consequently we are confident that
there is — somewhere — a destiny also for the coot.
But the reader will do well to take our word for it,
that if Nature intended this bald and benevolent
bird for soup, she unaccountably omitted some of
the most important ingredients, and introduced others

Chair,

i6^

more suitable for the production of soap. Merganser
soup, which graced our table on the following day,
is a very different thing, and altogether laudable,
though one would hardly expect any great results
from the employment of that fowl as an article of
food.

Menu. — Sept. 12th.

Fotage. — Merganser.

Fish. — Charr.

Entrhs. — A little more Charr, please.

Removes. — I say, Cardie, I wish you'd fry another or two

of those Charr.
Dessert. — Chorus. — By George, I never tasted anything

like those Charr.

These Charr were discovered the first day of our
stay here. They frequented the river from about
200 yards above the landing up to the lake, and
appeared to be identical with the great Scandinavian
charr, running in size from i to about 20 lbs. — we
saw one over the latter weight, though without
catching him. They were beyond all question the
best fish- food that man may hope for in this wicked
world, unless we except ihat rare delicacy, burbots
livers. ^

We may mention here that we subsequently found
a river where these fish reached a much greater size
— in fact an Englishman, in whose word we could
implicitly trust, and who had fished it for many
years, told us he had caught them there up to So
lbs. in weight. We have not the smallest intention
of letting the reader into the secret of that river,

i66

Charr

!i;

^ fc-i

I^S ' '

i 1

but wc thought he would be pleased to hear of its
existence.

A minnow, or still better a spoon, seemed to be
what they chiefly fed upon, though we got a few,
and also some lovely silver trout, with a rosy tinge
on the belly, with fly. They took the bait more with
the deliberation of a salmon than the dash of a trout ;
their subsequent behaviour on the whole rather re-
sembled that of the former fish ; and they furnished
as good sport as any one could desire.

The first day Jim alone fished a couple of hours,
getting eight with the loss of two minnows. While
one of these, a two and a half pounder, was being
hauled in, another of about I2 lbs. made a rush at
him : unquestionably it is necessary to use a very
big bait for the big fish. The angler came home
rather disconsolate, and would tell us the story of
how he didn't catch the greatest fish of all : —

"You see, after I lost the first minnow I was
nervous about the other one, so I put on a stronger
trace, and just under the cliff up there I hooked a
regular monster. I can't tell how big he was, but
he made a whirl in the water like a whale when he's
harpooned, don't you know."

" I wonder he didn't break your painter," sneered
the envious Skipper.

''Well, you see, the anchor dragged a bit, or it
would have broken," went on the historian, in perfect
good faith.

" Oh ! and what did you do then ? "

"Do! Why, I just hung on all I knew how, -»nd
he took out 50 yards of line at the first run, and then
he kept getting more and more, till I only had the

Cliarr,

167

near of its

med to be

got a few,
rosy tinge
more with

of a trout ;
rather re-

y furnished

e of hours,
vs. While
was being
I a rush at
use a very
came home
le story of

low I was
a stronger
hooked a

^e was, but
when he's

," sneered

bit, or it
in perfect

how, -.nd
L and then
ly had the

last few turns left on the reel, and of course it was
simply a question of who could pull hardest. He
must have been down about opposite here," con-
tinued Jim, gazing pensively at the cliff at least 200
yards away along the winding river — " yes ; the line
would do that easily. Just when I made sure some-
thing would go, he came back a bit, and there, as
Uncle Remus says, * up and down we had it, 'sputing
and contending.* At last I got him up within 30
yards of the canoe, and began to think it was all
right. You'd have lost him long before then, Skipper,
with your wretched ideas on the subject of playing
a fish."

The Skipper not being ready with any appropriate
remark, merely glared, and the narrator proceeded.
" I suppose he'd been on about twenty minutes, and
I heard a splashing behind, and saw the bateau
coming down the river. I thought what a piece of
luck it was to get a ' gallery ' in this desolate place
just at the moment when I should gaflf this big fish,
and I began to feel uncommonly pleased with myself :
yoti^d have had side enough on to upset the boat if it
had been you, Skipper. The men were all watching
eagerly as the bateau went by, and I was trying to
look as if I caught twenty-pounders — he was all that
— every day ; and whether it was the boat that scared
him or what I don't know, but he made a terrific

run, took out every scrap of line, and bang went

twa-and-saxpence ; trace cut against a rock close to
the minnow. What ? No, I didn't say a word — at
least, I mean nothing to what you fellows would have
said. But just wait till to-morrow."

Accordingly in the morning the Skipper and Jim

.... I

;

If*;

ill

III I

1 68

'larr.

went in one canoe to take turns at fishing and gafling.
Landing nets were too cumbrous to be taken with us,
and we always used a miniature gaff made out of a
largest size salmon hook, with a little temper taken out
of it, and nearly all the barb removed. This when
lashed to a small stick made a very useful and portable
weapon, and with it fish even as small as a pound in
weight could quite easily be landed.

We had a pretty good morning, but of course
wrangled the whole time, Jim declaring that fine
tackle and careful working were as essential to the
capture of these denizens of the deep as of any other ;
while the Skipper, who had produced some huge
Phantoms and the coarsest of traces, with which he
had been wont to ensnare the great lake trout in
Finland, as stoutly maintained that their only fault
was excessive delicacy, and that the more floppierly
you threw the bait, the more it would catch. Each
one in tarn took a hand at spinning, and commenced,
" Now I'll show you the way / should fish this pool ;

of course I may be quite wrong, but still &c."

We both caught the same number of fish, so the
point is still undecided. But as we saw a man from
Geary's going fishing with a clothes-line and the bowl
of a gravy-spoon tied to it just above a grapnel, the
weight of evidence seems to be on the side of the
Skipper.

It is probably unnecessary to state that the united
efforts of the pair succeeded in losing the best charr,
which must have weighed at least 12 lbs. He was
for a wonder very lightly hooked, and seeing this, we
made a shot at him before he was ready to come on
board, with the usual result.

Chan-,

169

The biggest we actually landed were several of
between 5 and 6 lbs., the best just failing to pull
down the scale at the latter figure ; but these on
the light trout rods, which were our only weapons,
proved quite sufficiently troublesome. They are
strong, game fish, and fight hard for life ; and as the
river is very full of snags and sharp rocks that have
fallen from the cliff above, they have rather more

"Missed him, by thunder I Weil o/ all My good fool, its eiuirvly your

tmm Why the dooce didn't you What on earth you — / should have

thought any idiot," &-c. &-'c\ &^c.

than a fair chance. As regards appearance, their
disproportionately big head and long body are not
prepossessing, but on the other hand their colouring
is beautiful : the dark striped and spotted greenish
hue of the upper portions, and the lovely reddish
orange shading into clear white of the lower, is per-
haps more striking than anything their cousins can
boast of. They have this further recommendation,
that the bigger they are the better they are, which is

I/O

Ckarr,

by no means the case with the trout. Their flesh was
a light pink, and " nyum nyum " but faintly expresses
its quality.

A morning's fishing in one canoe was as much as
we could stand without coming to open war ; and in
the afternoon we again went out in the Hope and
LuliCf Jim taking the higher reach, and the Skipper
the part nearest to the camp. The method adopted

Kcrblinkity- blttnk.

was to liave a rope running through the ring at the
bow of the canoe, and tied to this a fairly big stone to
serve as an anchor. When we wished to change our
position we had only to haul on this rope until the
stone left the ground, and as soon as the boat had
drifted far enough again "let go the anchor."

Standing up to spin in these cranky craft is not
the easiest thing in the world, and the weather, which

was decidedly stormy, had now begun to favour us
with sudden gusts of cold northerly wind and rain.
One of these squalls swooped down upon Jim unawares
and wafted him clean out of the canoe into the river —
so clean, in fact, that though he had time to throw
the rod into her, the Lulie never shipped a drop of
water. It was bitterly cold, and not pleasant to dis-
cover after he had landed on the rushy shore that the
canoe being peacefully anchored in mid-stream, there
was nothing for it but to behave like the swan in the
poem : —

" The swan swam over the river ; swim, swan, swim !
The swan swam back again : well swam, swan ! "

Which accordingly had to be done. His ancient and
trusty hat had

Sailed into the fiery sunset,

Sailed into the purple vapours,

Sailed into the dusk of evening ;

And its owner from the margin

Watched it floating, rising, sinking.

Till its ragged brim seemed lifted

High into that sea of splendour.

Till it sank into the vapours

Like the new moon slowly, slowly.

Sinking in the purple distance.

And he said, *' Farewell for ever,"

Said, " Farewell, O Hat in water."

And the forests dark and lonely.

Moved through all their depths of darkness.

Sighed, "Farewell, O Hat in water."

And the waves upon the margin.

Rising, rippling on the pebbles.

Sobbed, "Farewell, O Hat in water."

And the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah,

From her haunts among the fenlands.

Screamed, " Farewell, O Hat in water."

V'!

172 Cliarr.

Thus departed Jim's old head-gear,
In the glory of the sunset,
In the purple mists of evening,
To the regions of the South wind,
Of the South wind Shawondasee,
To the Islands of the Blessed
To the kingdom of Poncmah,
To the land of the Hereafter.

As a few minutes later, dripping, and adorned with
water-weeds, he passed the Skipper, the latter, who
was then struggling with a great charr, was observed
to smile and chuckle in a superior though undemon-
strative manner. This malicious enjoyment of his
friend's misfortune was not to go unpunished, for he
not only lost that fish, which he .solemnly declared —
and even believed — to be over 20 lbs. in weight, but
never hooked another that day.

At evening we walked up to Geary's ranch,
which he " runs " as a kind of hotel for the few
travellers who pass this way. Conspicuous on the
wall of the only room was the jawbone of a horse,
with the word NO on one side of it and HERE on
the other, a quaint conceit which in the interests of
truth might be adopted in most of our English gun-
rooms and smoking-rooms.

There we found Baillie-Grohman, seriously ill, lying
in a makeshift bed on the floor, and did our best to
doctor him. Whether Jim's plan of presenting a
couple of 5 lb. charr to a man who could take
nothing but cblorodyne and gruel was likely to result
in any very startling cure was open to doubt ; but as
his men managed to get him away to Windermere,
where luckily a real medicine-man met him, we had
not an opportunity of seeing our efforts successful.

C/iarr,

^72,

Suffice it to say that cither we or that other doctor
did restore him to health ; and as wc had the first shot
at him, wc think we ought to have the credit of it.

We had another patient here to practise upon ;
one of the Police, who piteously begged for pills.
We knew enough of the healing art to be sure that
he might just as well swallow flat-irons ; but to show
our sympathy we at last presented him with half a
dozen blue pills, extra size, 40° above proof, each of
them about equal to a Jacob's explosive bullet in
strength. And next morning early he sent word that
they had done him no good, and would wc i^lcasc
give him a few more.

Just at bed-finv a low howl which seemed to come
from far away up the lake was wafted to our ears,
and Cardie, who teaches us many things that we (and
for the matter of that, he) never knew before, said,
" There, that's the first coyote I've heard in this
country." Very much interested, we listened intently,
and in a few minutes it burst forth again, this time
obviously nearer. But when at the third cry we
perceived that the coyote had accurately picked up the
air and even the words of " Oh what a surprise," and
was coming down the river in a bateau, our faith in
Cardie as an instructor of youth went down to zero.

We had brought out from England a tin box full
of home-made gingerbread as a present for that spoilt
boy from his ancestral cook. On the way out we
opened it to see whether they were keeping all right,
and found they were, but that they were a little too
sweet. At Golden we delivered the box, carefully
retied with that intricate system of " grannies " so
dear to the female soul, and Cardie, who opened it

' i

Illlliiii'X'

174

Charr,

ii 1,4'

•lliil'

rnii

with avidity, said, " What a rum thing she didn't pack
this box full." So we said it was funny, but the
shaking they had had would account for it, and if they
hadn't been so sweet they would have shaken down
I'till more. Each day we have been out they have
become less sweet, and the allowance served out has
grown larger; and when the last of them went at
the Charr Camp, we felt indeed that a blight had
come over our young lives, and that henceforth the
world would be a dull place. There can be little
question that gingerbreads in two or more large
boxes are an absolute necessity for camping, as the
best safeguard against fevers^ broken limbs, and such-
like calamities, from all of which we enjoyed immunity.

( 175 )

CHAPTER XVII.

CANOEING.

The north wind which blew Jim into the river was
so favourable for the voyage up the lake that we
agreed to leave this pleasant place. Naturally in the
night it changed ; and by the time that Cardie with
the horse had started along the trail which skirts the
eastern shore, and the canoes had cast off from the
landing, there was a perfect gale from the south right
in our teeth. We stopped a couple of hours to fish
in the favoured reach, getting two big fish and
several between 3 and 5 lbs., and one good trout.
When at last we emerged from the rushes on to the
open lake, the sea was running mountains — twenty
inches at least — high, and it required the utmost
care and hard work to keep the canoes head to wind
and avoid swamping. With their heavy loads the
freeboard was reduced to four inches, and their
wonderful natural buoyancy to a great extent de-
stroyed. Every now and then we shipped a big sea
over the bows ; but onr waterproof sheets were so
placed over all the baggage, and secured with their
edges overhanging the gunwale, that very little water
stayed in the boats. The la'jour, however, was terrible,
and by four o'clock we had only progressed about a
mile and a half, and were tired to death. So we

176

Canoeing.

|if||i

landed in a sheltered bay, baked, and cooked a supper ;
and opined that the close of day would allay the
tempest and bring peace to these troubled waves.

Sure enough, as the red sun sank to rest behind the
Selkirks, the wind stopped with a jerk, as if by the
application of an atmospheric break, and by half past
six we were once more afloat, and urging the canoes
over the surface of the lake, still heaving and tossing
with its late angry passions, but without a breath of
air to oppose our passage. This was simply de-
lightful ; the smooth even rocking of tlie canoes as
they swiftly rode over the glassy billows being such a
relief from the inch by inch struggle wc had so lately
been engaged in, when often our utmost strength
could do no more than hold our own, while furious
squall after squall, all wet with flying spume and froth,
swept down upon us in quick succession.

Night came on apace, and long before we had been
able to make out with certainty where the real end of
the lake might be, we were left in darkness to reach
it as best we could. We took our bearings for what
we supposed to be our destination while it was still
light, and soon the stars came out, and laying our
course by them we went steadily on. After about two
hours we suddenly caught sight of a tiny bright spark
a little to the left of the point we had been steering
for, and knew that this must be the beacon which it
had been settled Cardie was to display for us after
nightfall. It looked a very long way ofi', and now
against us, tired as we were, once more the wind
began to rise. The ominous plash of the surf against
the unseen rocky shore, and the uncanny feeling of
the cold reeds waving across our faces as wc

d a supper;
I allay the
waves,
behind the
s if by the
y half past
the canoes
ind tossing
I breath of
simply de-
canoes as
ing such a
d so lately
t strength
ile furious
and froth,

had been

sal end of

> to reach

for what

was still

lying our

ibout two

?ht spark

steering

which it

us after

and now

he wind

f against

iJcling of

as wc

Canoeing.

occasionally pas^^dTZTTTT '

ti^e voyage anything bun''''' "''^ ^''^ ^^^^ of
increase our discomfort the hi '"',- ^"' "^^ ^o
"ever seemed to ge rppreciahrT '^'^' ^^^"^^ ^^^
and fainter, until ^ JaTral/ T'' ^"^
-^ again the big rolLl 'heg S^^ '^^^^^^
bows mto the canoes. We had " i '''''' '^^

j;::::^f^tempt . land^g and ::!"'' ? °"^

I^^M^^— j^^^^ s. rtng camp on the in-

^■*"'"'""'-''//"- «.»*•» £.fe

hospitable Shore Whose sh,^
- ; but first tried sig, a of 7r'"'"' '°°™^'' ^''ove
double-barrel. Almo, "^'^'^''^^'^^ by firing off the
"-ed up again, an ™ r.^f'^ - answer'the fire
;ve had not much further " - T "''' "'^ ~"'d ^ee
bard worlc brought us into^!- ^,"°"'^'- ''alf hour of
pebbly beach we drew „° ?" ''"'''' '"'' °" ^
Cardie's hail close above onr h f""^'' ""'^ heard
""""'"S we were cosily sunnL ' '" '^ '"^^ '"°^e

y supping ,n a perfectly sheltered

178

Canoeing.

l!ii|i'

i:!'::!

w-<

!^j-.

'iii!i:,

little nook, under some fine pine-trees which grew
on a steep bank at the south-eastern corner of the
lake.

It was very soothing to lie comfortably under our
waggon-sheet and listen to the angry roar of the
hurricane as it hurtled through the branches of the
big pines with ever-increasing strength, shaking
them to their very roots. And it was pleasant to
reflect that if we had been ten minutes later we
should probably at this moment have been shivering
-among the bare rocks of that desolate shore, or else
witli the -canoes. smashed) and our goods, and possibly
ourselves, at the bottom of this mighty ocean.

Altogether we consider we got out of this piece of
folly better than we deserved.

Cardie was away early, with instructions to find the
landing-place of the bateau, where we expected to see
a trail which would take us'-ircross the flat to the
Kootenay riv€r. That found,' he was to build a sleigh
on which to transport the canoes in the manner we
had proved to be so convenient in Norway. We
followed, coasting along the low rush-grown shore
towards the south-western corner, keeping a bright
look-out for any channel which had any appearance of
being used. We soon became aware that this marshy
waste of rushes, grass, willows, and water swarmed
with every sort of moisture-loving bird, from geese
down to sand-pipers. All the commoner ducks were
plentiful, though wild, while the snipe and dowitchers
were so tame as to be uninteresting. By quietly
cruising along the little tortuous channels which
intersected the land in all directions we were able to
get all the shooting we needed.

Canoeing.

179

hich grew
ner of the

under our
Dar of the
hes of the
, shaking
)leasant to
\ later we
I shivering
•re, or else
id possibly
in.
lis piece of

to find the
ted to see
at to the
|ld a sleigh
anner we
ay. We
wn shore

a bright
learance of
[is marshy

swarmed

m geese
Icks were

witchers
quietly

s which
able to

We spent more time over this fascinating spot than
we had to spare ; but at last the Skipper refused to
issue any more ammunition, and we began to paddle
up what we guessed to be the arm leading to the
landing. More than a mile we followed this delusive
stream, remarkable for the numerous springs which
everywhere gushed up from crater-like basins at the
bottom, while round them grew the most beautiful
and luxuriant water-weeds ever seen, their delicate
filigree-work of many-hued leaves and tendrils all
clearly defined in the limpid water. And then we
rounded a corner beyond which the channel was not,
and with the usual recriminations turned back again
to the lake.

Right in the corner we at last came on another
opening which looked promising, and though before
we arrived at the end it had become very unpromising
indeed, it did eventually turn out to be the right one,
and before sunset we rejoined Cardie at the landing-
place.

On the bank was reposing the emblem of modern
progress, a steam-boiler, destined for the saw-mill
which was to cut the lumber for the building of -
Kootenay City, which future metropolis at that
moment consisted of a single one-roomed cabin.

Cardie hr*^ finished a first-rate sleigh, with two
birchwood runners, cross-pieces, and diagonals, all
firmly rabbeted and nailed together, and in a short
time we had started with one canoe, the other and
some of the baggage being packed together under a
sheet against the impending rain. Somebody pro-
pounded the theory that if you want a horses to drag'
anything, the more weight you put on his back^fhe

lif

'"S.i^

gy;S

!'»!!

-i'

II'! ■

i
1
i

•i

1 80

Canoeing.

easier his work will be ; consequently the way that
unfortunate roan had truck piled on to him was just
sinful.

The flat is about a mile and a half across along
the trail, quite level, and composed of rich black
soil, which no doubt at some time was a portion of
the lake-bed. At the side nearest to the Kootenay
river we came for the first time into the region of
the Yellow Pine {Pinus ponderosa). These splendid
trees grow in open order, the ground underneath
them almost clear of everything except grass and
small creeping berries. Their trunks, branchless for
half their height, are covered with deeply indented
rough bark of a rich reddish brown colour, the lines
of the dark cracks which score their sides giving
them a singularly striking appearance. Shaded by a
group of these majestic pines we pitched our tent at
evening close to the Kootenay river, here grown into
at least twice the size of the turbulent stream we
had known it at the end of the Sinclair Pass. It
was to some extent sobered down from the head-
strong folly of its early career, but still running at
a great pace, with the ceaseless sound of the dis-
tant rapid making itself heard — or felt — it is difficult
to know which is the right word.

On the flat were camped under the command

of O , a rare good fellow, whose acquaintance

we had already made, several men, working on the
various undertakings which were intended to make
communication between the Columbia and Kootenay
possible. The canal was to start from the channel
up which we came, and join the Kootenay somewhere
near where we were camped, and the saw-mill, a

Canoeing.

i8i

way that
was just

)ss along
ich black
)ortion of
Kootenay
region of

splendid
iderneath
;rass and
:hless for

indented
the lines
is giving
ided by a

r tent at
;own into

cam we

ass. It

e head-
ning at

[the dis-
difficult

)mmand

lintance

Ion the

make

|»otenay

Ihannel

iwhere

lill, a

store, and other buildings were to be hurried on as
fast as possible. A bridge was also being built over
the Kootenay, for which purpose the noble pines
were being ruthlessly sacrificed, and altogether there
seemed every prospect of nature being very much
" improved " in a short time.

Cardie, O , and his brother were looking at

the dead birds, when Jim, pulling a dishevelled
dowitcher out of his pocket, asked whether they
supposed that might be a Solitary Snipe. [He
hadn't at that time the smallest notion of what it
was himself.] So they looked it carefully over,
and the verdict was, '' Yes, that's a Solitary Snipe all
right ; you see, it has only got its young feathers
yet, &c., &c." " Because," proceeded the naturalist,
" I suppose it is characteristic of the Solitary Snipe
that you always kill three at a shot." And it then
came out — for Jim was too proud (!) of his perform-
ance to keep it to himself — that this unprincipled
person had been stalking the unfortunate birds and
shooting them on the ground. He had killed fifteen
in five consecutive shots, in which, however, he did
to some extent redeem his character by a skilful
right and left flying, which resulted in three to each
barrel. The scarcity of cartridges will, we hope,
be accepted as a good excuse for tms outrage : it
makes one acquainted with strange methods of pro-
curing game.

Early next day Cardie and the Skipper took the
sleigh for the Hope and balance of our baggage,
while Jim departed to his beloved marshes for further
researches among the birds. He came back very
discontented, because the average had dropped from

ill--

182

Cauoeiitg,

three to two head of game for every cartridge
expended ; but as a new delicacy was added to the
bag, in the shape of a lot of golden plover, we did
not see much cause for grumbling. Oh for a week
on that flat with an unlimited supply of eights and a
retrieving spaniel. We had nothing but fives — as
the best all round shot — and had to be very economical
with them.

^ K- • ■ ■•'"■' ■•■• ^' -

i s,. - '-'v iv.vr-* ■*"■ •

Across Canal Flat— the Camp on the Kootenay.

The long-billed dowitchers are very much like a
large snipe, of a pale cinnamon colour, spotted and
irregularly marked with dusky tints, the upper parts
being duller and darker than the lower, with a good
deal of white about the tail. They frequented the
sides of the little pools and runnels in groups of half a
dozen or so, wading also deep in the water, for which
their legs and bill, slightly longer than those of a snipe,

Canocifig.

■83

irtridge
to the
we did
a week
s and a
ves — as
nomical

"liirv':""!"

.,,»;.■'»«■■*•■»'„ ,'

T^-. .'■■

U.mMi.

like a
ed and
parts
good
:ed the
half a
which
snipe,

were well adapted. In flight they were not so snipey
as the genuine article, and had an unlucky (for
themselves) habit of closing up into a compact clump
at the first turn, of which the pot-hunter was not
slow to take advantage. The Wilson's snipe were
very numerous, and nearly always got up singly or in
couples, affording shooting that was simply ideal : they
seemed to differ very slightly from the European variety.
The same may be said of the plover, which, however,
for young birds, were more plentifully speckled with
gold than our own.

Wilson's Snipe [Gallinago delicata).

All of these birds were excellent, but the English-
American language has no words to do justice to the
last named. We can only ask in the inspired idiom
which comes nearest to expressing the tenderest
feehngs of our inmost soul, " What's the matter with
the golden plover ? " and echo — with more sense than
she usually exhibits — answers " Love her."

We saw here in the big trees on the banks of the
Kootenay the olive-backed thrush, the only time that
we have met with it in our journey.

Cardie had a wish to look at a gold-mine which

184

Canoeing.

K ' 'i'l'

some English people had started on a stream known
as Findlay Creek, a few miles from here. Accordingly
we arranged to meet at Skookumchuck Creek (" the
stream of the rapid torrent ").

On the morning of September 17th he departed on
the roan, while we set out in the canoes down the river.
It was bitterly cold at first : our water-can had three-
quarters of an inch of ice in it when we awoke, but
soon the sun shone out bravely, and by the time we
started one could not wish for a more perfect day.
And everything else was in keeping with the weather,
as if for once the wand of an enchanter had been at
work to give us a dream of unalloyed happiness.
How the hours flew as without a care in the world,
revelling in the intoxication of the rapid movement
through the bracing air, we rushed and glided over
deep and shallow, past island and forest, cliff and
sand and shingly shore. Every bend disclosed new
beauties, new risks, new excitements, as snags and
rocks raced past us, and foam-flecked water hurried by
our side, or the crested surf with sudden flash leapt
at us as we darted by. A turn of the river, and lo !
the noise and turmoil past, we would be quietly
floating in some deep dark pool, with only a gentle
murmur to remind us of the rapids left behind, its
placid water reflecting the grey rocks and drooping
branches of the bending pines. Short were the
periods of calm : another bend, and the river would be
hurrying with swirl and eddy past a piled up mass
of shattered timber which the fierce floods of early
summer had with resistless force carried down, ever
increasing in bulk, until at last the channel itself had
been blocked, and the impatient torrent compelled to

Canoeing.

■85

carve a new way for itself to right and left of the huge
barrier. Then as we plunged through such a cleft,
the leaning trees, half their support already gone,
meeting above our heads, again would come the
music of the rapid, the spray, and foam, and ever
deepening roar, and in another moment, every nerve
tingling with excitement, and every muscK* straining at
the paddle, we would feel the startled dip and quiver
of the canoes as they flew into the very midst of the
seething, hissing, dance of waters. So the livelong

Belled Kiug fisher {Ccryle alcyon).

day we raced and shouted and laughed from sheer
high spirits ; and when at evening we landed on the
bank of a little river which we guessed to be Skookum-
chuck, we felt that one more surfeit of delight must
be counted with the past, and that never again could
we know the joy of a first run down the Kootenay
river.

Only one regret we have, and that is for the
reader : the photographs which during a brief halt
for lunch and fishing the Skipper took of some of

1 86

Canoeing.

the unequalled scenery we passed were unfortunately
spoilt. We can only give a portrait of the bird most
constantly seen on American rivers, the Belted King-
fisher.

It took us 3I hours (exclusive of stoppages) to get
down to Skookumchuck, the distance being by land
sixteen miles, by river we guessed it at over twenty.
In one length we supposed that we covered ten miles
within the hour, without using our paddles more than
enough for steerage way. Often as we silently and
swiftly darted round some projecting bluff, we were in
the middle of a flock of duck before they were aware
of our presence ; and on one of the huge timber
jams which so often occurred we passed close to a
wolverene, which, before a rifle could be grasped,
plunged hastily among the logs and disappeared,
though the speed at which we were going was a
sufficient protection for him. Speaking generally,
the river was not as dangerous as we had been led
to believe, though of course it is not one that an
inexperienced or timid voyageur could attempt with
safety. We heard that a few weeks before a bateau
laden with provisions had tried to run it and been
wrecked, though without loss of life, and we had
been entreated not to go down except with the help
of some man who knew the channels. But our own
impression is that with a bright look-out and no
special bad luck any one who thoroughly understands
the management of his boat ought to do it safely.
There are no rapids that we consider really hazardous
in regard to the perils by water, i.e., from bad
eddies or waves big enough to swamp a boat. The
real risk is from snags, which are very numerous,

anoemg.

187

and in spite of the utmost care cannot always be
guarded against ; from these we had not a few
narrow escapes. There are some bad rocks which,
however, are more easily avoided, and several places
where there is great difficulty in steering clear of
overhanging trees. These are specially bad because
though they are perfectly easily seen, the set of the
stream is often so strongly towards and under them,
that only the quickest co-operation of eye and hand
will avert a disaster, whereas in cases of submerged
obstacles the stream itself at the last moment always
has a tendency to sheer away from the danger.

The high steep mountains which up at the flat
had hemmed us in had on the western side gradually
receded, until at Skookumchuck they were so far
away as to be almost invisible, the range on that
bank being now only low forest-clad hills of undu-
lating outline. On the east the Rockies were still
near, and looking back towards the Columbia one
conical peak in particular shone out all white, the
most conspicuous object in the lovely landscape.

The forest on the western shore (to which, on
account of Cardie, we were tied) had been burnt
down near the creek, and no nice place for a camp
was immediately to be found, so to save time we slept
this night on the shingle-bed at the mouth of the creek
in a sandy hollow a few yards wide. It was bitterly
cold, and in the morning a dismal change had come
over this inconstant climate ; dark misty clouds en-
veloped us, and after a terrific thunderstorm, the
weather settled down to a miserable drizzle.

We spent a long and weary day cutting a trail
through the tangled mass of burnt trees and dense

i88

Canoeing.

scrub to a little open glade about a hundred yards
back from the river, and some distance further down
it. There at last we pitched both the small tent
and the waggon-sheet (the large tent it has already
been explained was sent back to Golden after the
one night in Canyon Creek), and became once more
comfortable householders, leaving a flag-pole and note
for Cardie at the mouth of the creek.

:lJlX

( i89 )

CHAPTER XVIII.

SKOOKUMCHUCK.

The creek we soon found to be a much better fishing
place than the river, in whose cold snow-stained
water the trout either do not exist in plenty, or
have some peculiarity of habits which makes them
useless to the angler. We have caught few, and
those only small, in the Kootenay ; but in the creeks
which run into it — well, the less we say the more
chance of being believed. Wandering a mile or
so up this " stream of the rapid torrent " we came
upon a beautiful grassy prairie on its south bank,
surrounded by and dotted at intervals with clumps
of splendid pines, a spot at which one involuntarily
looked round for the stately mansion which such
a park must in some sheltered bay of trees contain.
Sure enough, there was a trail, and presently a
bridge, burni; and half destroyed, but still spanning
the creek ; and on the other side two Httlc huts also
much dilapidated, but bearing traces of having been
inhabited, though not very recently. The Skipper
was unfortunate in taking a length of water not
favourable to fly fishing, and though he brought
home a fair bag, ne had nothing special to relate.
Jim happened upon a reach not far below the huts

igo

SkookiimcJi lick.

V': .

which he declared to be just a wonder, and this is
his account of it.

" Tf was a lovely long dark pool, with over-
hanging cliffs and trees on the other side ; big
rocks with black-looking turn-holes, and bits of
falls among them, every stone making exactly the
place you could sw^ear to as holding a trout. I'll
bet there were more in that length than in the
whole of the Thames."

" I suppose you put on a minnow ? " interrupted
the Skipper.

" Well, I did at first, so as to make sure of
getting a breakfast, but it was only a little one. It
got three beautiful game fish in the first three throws.
Then I thought this was a wicked shame."

" So it wab ; how you can be such a brute with
your education," growled the Skipper.

" Well, I watched the river a bit, and saw there
was a fish rising within reach, so I put or a lovely
' string of bugs * — a perfect Joseph cast — and he
wouldn't look at it. As soon as I was sure he
must have seen the coat — the cast I mean — of many
colours, and had no use for it, I looked about and
caught a regular deuce of a stone fly — you never
saw such a stone fly in your life — about two inches
long, and as fat as a cockchafer, and sent it
floating down on a bare hook. It hadn't gone a
yard before two great trout simply whooping with
excitement came right out of the water at it, and
of course I jerked it away in a fright, and caught
neither of them. However, the fly was all right,
so I sent him down again, and that time one of
them got him, but missed the hook, which I expect

d this is

:h over-
de ; big
bits of
ictly the
)Ut. I'll
I in the

errupted

sure of

one. It

throws.

4te with

w there

lovely

and he

lire he

f many

ut and

never

inches

ent it

one a

|g with

t, and

caught

right,

ne of

expect

1 \ ^*

' 'ili

— — ;_ '91

was a bit qrmli ti- ~ —

I firmly believe to be ' 7 "7 ' l^^^'^.' whieh
(The angling reader .Lai f "^ ^^^'^ "-^"'^d.
'han «-e ean tell !,!„, hat we f 7' '° ""'"^ """■<=
of the " Beetle " wo Jd WeTo '"'"' "'' *^<^'-'P"on
reluctantly refrain from , sertin '" T' ''°'' '""'' '"'^
- rise, and then sent th s n^'l ^ ^^ " ' "^''""^ ^or
-n an instant was figh • ' l'^'' '° "^ P'-e, and
^"h the fine tackle and feavv 'Z""'' '^^''' ^h'-^"
fouble before I coukUald h "f Th"' '''' P'"''^ "^
was very awkward, and I los ^^ ,^/'one I was on
g-'ff them, but it ;as about he 7 ""' '" ''^'^S to
eould get a dry fly out I ""'^/'^"^ "''^'--^ ^ou
never saw such'^a p'ool "or 63,"! t"" '"="- '
' ".fr '^."ooi.edLery l^'ln^^^J^;^ -■■"^. -d

-5. halTgoT^'eXit^e:;! Skfo "' '""
^«, you're iealouqf h^.-^ Skipper.

-'■e awfully hard t iatch :\r " "^^P^"^ '"ey
^o>.ld have got any"Lhf'wr ' °^ ^°" ^^''ows
and he went on :— ^ ^reat complacency ;

" I was there a little m-n.- , u
as I could carry without m\ • ""' ^'"' *fot as many
see a better lotta„ thTse" '?^r''^"^*-^^ou ever
°"t a bag of spotted brown „ , ''''^''"^' ''^ '""'^d
7"ntry ,00k about them Ts d r "'"' ' ^"^^^ old-
'he silver beauties of the Koote '"' *" ""°"'- ^om
clear Scotch-looking creek istrM' "" "^'^'- °' the
greeny blue of the river Th! m' '"^'"'^ op^uo
» pound, and they were' fnt ?!>""''; '""^ J"^t over
"ted whe„ ,hey c'ame o„ If heT """'■■ ^"'' -"
While coming bad- . 1 '^'■>'"'S-P^"-

g back along the creek Jim thought he

: (I

192

Skookti inch tick.

li!.;.:

heard a hail, and listening intently was sure he could
distinguish Cardie's voice loudly uplifted. So he
shouted back, and after a time got a real reply. Pre-
sently that unhappy wight appeared on the opposite
bank with the roan horse, both looking bored to death,
and exceedingly pleased to once more luxuriate in free
and open pasturage.

Poor Cardie had had a tough time of it coming
down from his visit to the gold mine, where, however,
he had enjoyed himself very much. The only direc-
tions he had for finding Skookumchuck began "Directly

you cross the creek " So he travelled a whole day

in the rain before he came to any creek at all, and at
night camped in the heart of the dense dripping forest.
He could not even keep a fire going satisfactorily ;
had very little food ; no drink ; and the cheery sound
of the hooting owls was his only solace. To-day he
started very early, and as it chanced struck the cross-
ing just when Jim was there, otherwise he would have
missed our tent, and gone on a long way to a place where
he would once more have found a trail and a note on
it from us. But what his brother imagined to be a
shout was really only the exhortation necessary for
the guidance of the impenitent roan, who whenever
the going is bad makes such a perverse beast of liimself
that as Mr. Ruskin says, " The mountains are voiceful
with perpetual rebuke," and nothing short of the very
loudest anathemas has any effect on his pigheadedness.

It is a remarkable and melancholy fact, but certainly
seems to be universally true, that the open-air life in
a mountainous country conduces to the practice of
loud swearing. Everything in nature is on such
a magnificent and stupendous scale that we suppose

ure he could
ed. So he
reply. Pre-
the opposite
fed to death,
Jriate in free

f it coming
re, however,

only direc-
^n "Directly
1 whole day

all, and at
ping forest,
isfactorily ;
eery sound
To-day he

the cross-
v^ould have
lace where

a note on
d to be a
^ssary for
whenever
of iiimself
e voiceful

the very
adedness.

certainly
lir life in
actice of
on such

suppose

'^^oo/aimchiick.

ordinary talk is fek to h " ^^'^

;j;-e for the expreL) on oVol'/ ^T''''' ^^" ^'-^-
'^'^}^Sht has been so ab^ 7 u '''' '^^^'^' -'"ude
7^ter just mentioned th^ ' ''''^ ^y '^^ great

o^ infelicitous wo^ds:^"' "' '"^'"'^ '^ -'^^e\Te

general ,ia of exciting he ," f '''' '^"^ ^^^^^'''
faculties in peculiarly solemn tor ^^'^ ''^"^ "^^'^"^^ve
--y one hearing a dLuSon tT "''"''" 0^^^' «o;
"lister would admit-atTd ! ''" ^^^^ ^^^n and his
^a -le^,,, ,,, ton" ;S^;;;:;^.^Y-,uarters
Ti^eir terror leads into deZti Pf'"^'''^^^^ solemn.")
'^''^^ beauty and wildness oro' ?"f '''^'^^ °^ ^^^^ught
-- time" (they d^ley do' th "^^"^^'^^^ ^^^^^
«;some of Cardie's remill'-^" ^^^^'^^^ "ovelty

-^ere the mind is not SJ wi.r''""""^>' "-^

powers -i. • 5'' tea with stern ,.^

i- vvcrs . . . jt ^g i ^cern reasoning-

-. c|-eed." (That's e.Znt T T""''"" -"'
^cnpt,on is accurate to a do, ' 'l' '^°'' ' 'he de-
;Pe.-'king, we ought to consM . ''"'•^ "«'"-«ly
">e hills, universally as at ■ ^' «"P^'-^"-"-ons of
°"'y that men have n t"et le „' h , ''°"''^' ^"^Srettin/

T'^rr- • • • (There ' 3 ™ '° "'■'"■"«"-''

«ould only look upon all H ""'"'•^" = >>' men

-nee of nervous eZiI 'i^,"'-'«•-■■■"-bred efilores-
;-"id be well ; hut alas ,1" .H"" "' P-try," all
h°w to distinguish poetry '^r ""' ^'' '^^"ed

""^.daring the lang.'ge ',sed 7 '"°''"'"^' '"''■'''■
perhaps hardly surprising ) '' '"°''''"" P°^'«. -

J he readers o' Marl- -r ■
f">ih-arwith thefervettTr" "" ""''' "-'e are
^-'ed hy hlan. spai:^ ':^Z^:T' ^"-^"^

"^" the miners of

V /

194

SkooktujicJinck\

the Sierras are credited, and the general impression
derived from such works is that their heroes must be
an awfully wicked lot. No such thing. It is only
their way, and the mountain air and scenery are
responsible for it. Take our own case, for instance.
At home we are all sorts of respectable things, such
as churchwardens, bookmakers, sons-in-law to rural
deans, &c., and don't use fifteen shillings' worth of
wicked swear words in a year. But put us out here
in B. C. (and we don't need to be much put out
either), and the language we habitually use at the
top of our voices would disgrace a meeting of
teetotallers. The curious thing is that we are not
ashamed of it, mean nothing by it, and pay no
attention to it, so we are convinced the blame rests
with those " centres of imaginative energy " the moun-
tains, and are happy.

We went down the river about a mile one morning
to drive a little island which looked promising for
game, and as luck would have it, just missed getting
a bear and a deer which were on it, and should, if
they had behaved according to the rules, have come
to the guns. These deer (the White-tail) seenxed to
be very numerous about here, and indeed all along
the Kootenay Valley.

The great black woodpecker was frequently seen
near this camp ; and here too we first fell in with the
Ruffed Grouse, a very handsome bird about the size
of black game, and with a beautiful ruff of feathers
of var3nng hue (often glossy greenish black) stand-
ing out from his neck. Above, his colours were
darkish browns and greys slightly mixed with
white ; below, buff, brown, and white ; tail rusty

il impression
'oes must be
It is only
scenery arc
for instance,
tilings, such
aw to rural
?s' worth of
lis out here
ich put out
use at the
meeting of
wc are not
id pay no
)Iame rests
' the moun-

le morning
mising for
ied getting

should, if
have come
seen.ed to

all along

Jntly seen
I with the
t the size
feathers
k) stand-
urs were
:ed with
ill rustv

'^^ookimchjuk.

g^^ey, with smaJuTfnT^; ~~" ^^"^

-ar its end. Ti^"L,';" ^"^/ ^road dark ha n7
-;-n and useful to'u ""^T ''''' ''^ "-t
Canadians esteem hin. ^erv Ivm ^' "^^^^ '^^hc

l^^y possess, but our o^'^ ^^ ^^ ^^^ ^est grouse
^as a nobJe exmnc ^ P'"'°" is -''dfTerent" u

^"Per.or flavour to tl.aTof H '"^''''Kuisl, any

° Groat Britain. Tr'e "e '" "''" 8'-"*" fowl
chance as we generall/a'te ,ir''', '"''^•^ '"■" •-• <•->
<^^>- or ,„-s demise, a^d ' ,: ^3* '- or three

^^ sknined instead of

del,cacy of any bird • but T ""^ ^° '"P'-ove tl,c
g^"- in the same ua; ad Z T'''" '" 'ur oth r
superior. ^' ^"'l 'hmk the Fool-he„ n/ud,

The Ruffed Grouse ha« = > l-
- '^'"en ,og3, and b^ a „' r °' ^'"'"^ on trees
-ngs racing sueh a^ae^eT" rt,""™™'"^ "C the!
hear „ for the first ,in,e -.nri , "'"'^ 'o'^ who

" 's-the noise being ZZ "°' ''"ow «l,at

•"o^^ 'ike the sound of a 1, ? '"" '"^'-reaching
- '"e -rearfuiness anVtrtrbh, '^^f'-^-chin?;

'"§^ Stop on a big

196

Skookumch u ck.

■ \

'Jilt

^11

lilt

f 'I

organ, than anything vvc can think of. It is altogether
a most ghostly sound, beginning slowl}'^, with long
intervals between the beats of the wing, and gradually
increasing in speed until the thuds succeed each
other in a rapid continuous roll. His recognised
name is now, we believe, Bonasa umbcllus ; but
being widely spread, with slight local variations, over
a large part of Canada and America, the Ruffed
Grouse has become known under several other desig-
nations.

For instance, one scientific traveller of not very
recent date puts him down as " Tetrao rhasiancllns —
the Grouse, Pheasant, or Partridge." We venture
to alter the Latin titlo to P/iasiancl/iiiiiis, for there is
certainly " very little pheasant " about him, and to
add to the English ones " Teal, Kestrel, or Cock
Robin ; " and now we think this bird is as extensively
named as any biped not a member of a Royal
family has any right to be. We can only suppose
this Scientist was too much occupied with the intri-
cacies of the diamond hitch, or the difficulties of
baking, to find any time for looking out the Latin
for " ruff," or possibly the dictionary had fallen over
a precipice with a pack-horse. At the same time
we cannot too strongly protest against the cowardly
outrage this lavish distribution of titles inflicts on an
inoffensive fowl. " Grouse, Pheasant, or Partridge "
forsooth ! just imagine a wretched creature having
three shooting seasons in one year. We presume
they begin gunning for him on the 1 2th of August,
shoot him a little more on September 1st, and kill
him finally and fatally dead on the 1st of October.
True, he ulso gets three close times ; but as these

altogether
with long
gradually
eed each
ecognised
lilts; but
ions, over
le Ruffed
ler desig-

not very

ianclliis —

" venture

' there is

1, and to

or Cock

:tensively

a Royal

suppose

the intri-

ulties of

he Latin

lien over

inie time

cowardly

:ts on an

irtridge "

5 having

presume

August,

and kill

October.

as these

1'/

Skookiit)ichuck\

197

seem to overlap the open to some extent, it is
(loiibtful if they would mitigate the severity' of his
treatment.

The Skipper wanted to know what he should do
with the birds he was preparing for food, and was
told to " make the old ones into soup."

•* How the deuce am I to tell which are the old
ones ? "

" Why, hold 'em up by the bill of course, stupid."

{N.B. — The amount of head which remains on a
bird after a .45 bullet has struck it is so insignificant
that the meanest man would not trouble to bring it
home, even if he could tind it.)

The river from this point downwards is much less
rapid and turbulent, and our voyage between Skookum-
chuck and Mather's ranch, where there is a small ferry,
was uneventful. It was only diversified by occasional
volleys of rifle shots at flocks of geese, as discoursing
with their usual volubility they streamed over our
heads. The numbers of water-fowl visible about
some flat marshes opposite the ranch induced Jim to
suggest a halt. Of course this was strenuously
opposed by the Skipper, and only decided after ten
minutes of anything but amity by the aid of a toss-up,
which said " Stop."

A wonderful place was that swamp for water- fowl :
teal, widgeon, and mallard, geese and brant, dowitchcrs,
snipe, and plover all swarmed, and we picked up on
the shore of the river a small bird, name unknown,
which was more like a Little Stint than anything else,
possibly a Peep. Just as we finished breakfasting in
the cold white mist which enveloped the hard frozen
flat, an Indian galloped up, and picketing his horse,

11 ::

198

Sko k II mcJi lick.

'•lil

iil

'v'i'

' ! -1 ,

came and stood by our fire. It was difficult to say
whether ugliness or cold and hunger predominated
in his face. We gave him the remains of our break-
fast, which were neither plentiful nor good, for here
as a matter of duty we were disposing of a dreadful
ham which had been sent up from Golden City instead
of the " Best Breakfast Bacon " we had ordered.

We will remark for the benefit of future tra^'ellei?
that they can acquire more bad food at a higher price
at Golden than at any other city of our acquaintance.

So it is possible that this Indian did not really
enjoy his food ; but still he sat there for half an hour,
and ate all the ham, and half a loaf, and lots of lard,
and some fish, and some Golden City coffee (!) made of
beans — and not the best beans either — in which the
sugar was so thick that it was positively plastic ; and
then, so please you, he just walked to his horse and
got on it and rode away. And we are ready to make
oath that he never nodded or even looked at us or
did anything in the world which could be intended or
taken as being meant to express thanks. And yet
the good missionary-loving folk at home are shocked
to hear that the prevailing sentiment throughout this
enlightened continent is " Darn all Injuns anyhow."

These people we know will have plenty to urge on
his behalf. They will say he felt unwell, which is
not unlikely, from the, way he ate ; but good gracious,
is gluttony to be an excuse for ingratitude ? Thev
will say that he has never had the advantages of a
Christian education ; and that will be wrong, for all
the Indians in this part of B. C. are Roman Catholics.
Probably they may go so far as to say that our
moroseness and want of sparkling conversation at

Skookuinchnck.

199

to say
minated
r break-
for here
dreadful
' instead
id.

ra^'c'ilei ?
ler price
intance.
)t really
an hour,
of lard,
made of
hich the
tic ; and
)rse and
to make
t us or
nded or
nd yet
shocked
ut this
how."
|urge on
I'hich is
Iracious,
They
les of a
for all
[tholics.
Iiat our
Ition at

7 A.M. in a freezing fog were sufficient to quench any
attempt at society manners ; and that is not the
reason either, for there is more to come. A little
lower down the river we came to a place where there
was a small pine-bark canoe drawn up on one side,
and an Indian on a horse at the other. By this time
the sun was up, gloriously up, and we were over-
flowing with the milk of human kindness, so when
the Indian hailed us and pointed at the canoe, Jim
politely paddled to him, took him on board, and at no
slight trouble to himself ferried him across.

This time tliere was no v/ant of brilliancy in our
talk, for Jim chatted most pleasantly to him all the
time, asking him among other things, " Had he
observed that the mud-hens which frequented the
river, in spite oi the numerous materials ready for
them, used only two sorts of reeds in the construction
of their nests ? " .\nd the Lidian inquiring what
kinds those might be, was told, " Straight ones and
crooked ones," a right merry quip highly provocative
of mirth and good-fellowship. Furthermore, he was
informed it was a " fine day for the race." And that
Indian behaved even as the other : he just stepped
ashore, and never deigned to give another look to
either of us. We understand that as a matter of
fact they have no word expressing in any way the
idea of gratitude.

No ; we fear the Indian, if he ever really was noble,
has much deteriorated, and it is enough to make one
feel some sympathy for Mr. Laboucherc in his attacks
on the House of Lords when one sees the demeanour
of this hereditary nobillcy.

The few months we spent \\\ this country were of

200

Skooku nichuck .

' io;

course not enough to allow us to form a very confident
opinion on the " Land Question," but we give our ideas
for what they are worth. In the first place, the Indians
have not in any sense of the word owned much of the
land that is worth owning, any more than a white
man who has camped and passed on can be said to
own the spot whereon he may have pitched his tent.
Such places surely are open to any one, red or white,
who chooses to settle there. On the other hand, many
places there are which have been owned and lived on
by Indians in a perfectly regular manner, and we
believe that the Government has paid very little
attention to facts of this kind, but treating all the
land as Crown land, has in many instances sold such
plots to white settlers They have given the Indians,
it is true, certain reserves, but these often inadequate
in amount, and selected without much regard to the
feelin'^s of the allottees as to position or quality.

At present the question has not reached a very
critical stage, because in these newly settled places
the red men so disproportionately outnumber the
whites, that the former have not thought "'■ worth
while to resort to violence, and the latter have found
it the best policy to give no excuse for it. But even
this peace-at-any-price, secured by such means as
exemption from game laws, lower prices for com-
modities, ferriage, and the like, and a general dis-
position to stand from an Indian behaviour which
from a white man would be instantly resented, has
its drawbacks. Under it they have grown to have
a wonderful opinion of themselves, and already the
whites are beginning to growl under the yoke of self-
restraint towards a race they really despise. Our

Skooktivich lick.

20I

ry confident
ve our ideas

the Indians
much of the
lan a white
1 be said to
led his tent,
ed or white,
■ hand, many
and Hved on
ner, and we
i very little
iting all the
es sold such
1 the Indians,
:n inadequate

:gard to the

quality.

impression is that as the whites get more numerous
they will get less careful not to tread on the corns of
the natives, and from the scarcity of good land the
squeezing of the latter, which has already begun, will
before long arrive at a crisis. Then we shall have the
old story : —

" What's the matter with you ? "

"Oh, please, sir, I stole a man's farm, and now he
is coming back with a lot of his pals, anc' going to
kill me."

" Well, you deserve to be killed ! "

■' Please, sir, it was an Indian I stole it from."
Oh, well, I'll call out the army."

After the first unfortunate squeezers have been
scalped, and a ridiculous expedition has been mas-
sacred according to the established routine in these
matters, the Indians will be ruthlessly put down, the
survivors placed on reserves they don't like, and the
fire-water, missionaries, and other civilising influences
of the pale-faces will do the rest of their deadly work.

We only bupe this forecast and our notions generally
are altogetr r v\Tong. It would be a grievous pity if we
are righ', ^r'* ; onsidered as Indians, these inland races
of B. C. b Mj:_c' to be of exceptionally good quality.
M-iny of thei '^^ e men especially, are of fine physique,
and good looking, and wc have seen a few girls (as we
supposed, though they might have been boys, heaven
know .. -^Iso distinctly comely ; and they are, though
independent to a fault, not usually unpleasant neigh-
bours. Some of them will work, and even work
fairly ?! ..i. lily, and they are considerabl}' more honest
than ordi' .••y whites, though perhaps that is not an
ambitious standard.

202

Skookiimchick,

A.ltogether, to sum up in the Skipper's words, they
are the most painful savages ; they believe in Chris-
tianity, and have only one wife, plait their hair in a
manner lovely to behold, and lead most homely and
tame lives ; all of which is exactly the contrary to
what he considers the correct conduct for his copper-
coloured brethren.

We will add that in our probably worse than use-
less opinion the threatened catastrophe could still be
averted by giving^ the Indians really good reserves of
sufficient size . p their stock, though we suspect
that this wouid ii. unt for a great deal more of the
sparsely scattered good land than the Government
have any intention of thus sacrificing. After that,
sternly suppress at whatever cost any invasion of
rights by either red man or white. The present
system, to our uninformed intelligence, looks rather
like alternately encouraging the settlers to crowd the
Indians, and anon timorously bullying them whenever
the croivded ones begin to look n^^sty.

!'!

sr's words, they
elieve in Chris-
their hair in a
)st homely and
he contrary to
for his copper-

orse than use-
i could still be
>od reserver, of
gh we suspect
al more of the
s Government
• After that,
y invasion of

The present
, looks rather

to crowd the
hem whenever

( 203 )

CHAPTER XIX.

CRANBROUK

The great Indian question being disposed of, we will
resume our voyage down the Kootenay.

We now began to get into more like a settled
country — occasionally even a fence was seen, and in
one place cows. On the hillside far away to the left
was a pack train wending its way towards the Police
Camp, which we knew to lie a few miles ahead of us
— a picturesque sight, with its curiously caparisoned
horses and mules clearly cut against the sky in their
long drawn out procession. When near to our desti-
nation we stopped to take a photograph, and at that
time there came up the river, which here was be-
ginning to increase in speed, a boat poled by two
men, whom we found to be a Swede and a Norwegian.
These men were making their living by rafting lumber
down to the great city of Galbraith's Ferry, and looked
as if the life suited them.

We shot down the last remaining two miles of our
present voyage at a speed entered in the diary as
"less than no time" (probably inaccurate), finishing
up with a glorious bit of really fast though quite
straightforward water, and about noon landed at the
ferry just opposite the mouth of St. Mary's river.

204

Cranh'ook.

liii

\ 3

1| '

iH i

There is a steep ascent from the ferry-boat landing
up to the store at the top, and there we found a
number of Indians and Police, and the heterogeneous
particles which go to make up a pack-train. Nor
must we omit mention of Mrs. Clark, the first white
woman we have seen since we left Golden more than
a month ago, and one of the noble three who at
present represen*: the sex in the few hundreds of
miles which this valley contains.

We proposed to leave the river at this point for
a short time, while we made an inland expedition
to Cranbrook, a place about twelve miles away
belonging to Colonel Baker, who had most kindl}^
asked us to stay there, although he himself and his
son would both be away. The latter we met at the
Police Camp here, and had the invitation repeated by
him. This camp was the headquarters of the contingent
of N. W. Police now serving in B. C, numbering about
seventy men, and four or five officers. The whole
place was neatly laid out in military order, with
mess-tent, farrier's shed, haystacks, kitchens, &c., all
complete, on a high plateau between the Kootenay
and a creek known as " Wild Horse " running into it
on the eastern side. At present all were under
canvas, but the men were occupied in erecting
uncommonly good buildings to serve as winter
quarters, and also as a fort in case of the much
talked-of Indian rising ; these were all in a very
advanced state. It took us about four hours to
obtain a horse and pack-saddle to carry the small
amount of luggage necessary for our visit. The rest
was taken into the store, and the canoes, which we
were assured might be safely left because of the awe

Cranbrook.

20 =

Doat landing
we found a
eterogeneous
-train. Nor
ic first white
en more than
hrce who at
hundreds of

:his point for
id expedition
miles away
most kindly
mself and his
we met at the
n repeated by
the contingent
mbcring about
The whole
order, with
|chens, &c., all
the Kootenay
[unning into it
ll were under
in erecting
e as winter
of the much
.11 in a very
lur hours to
■ry the small
it. The rest
,es, which we
le of the awe

inspired by the Police in the bosoms of evil-doers,
were laid in the bushes on the river bank.

About 5 P.M. we, in company with a fellow named
Richmond, who had come down from Cranbrook, left
the Ferry. Five minutes later a goose whicii was
fastened to the pack came untied, and dangling under
the horse's belly, scared him so that he stampeded.
We never expected to sec a bit of our possessions
again ; but Richmond being mounted, managed in a
short distance to head him, and with nothing worse
than the gun getting filled with mud, we resumed
our march.

This bolting of a pack-horse is often a very serious
affair, as it may end in leaving you in a wilderness
without food or raiment ; but it is to a disinterested
outsider a very ludicrous sight. We saw it done
up at Canal Flat by a horse packed with the entire
property of a man who had come to work there.
Something startled the beast and it began to kick,
then the pack came loose, and some part of it got
among his feet, and in a moment the terrified creature
was oft' at top speed through the tangled forest,
kicking furiously all the time, and at every bound a
coat or a tin can or a blanket went spinning through
the air, or got wrapped round his legs and was in
little pieces before you could say Jack Robinson. In
such wise did he depart from our view, leaving his
sorrowing owner to follow forlornly in his track, and
collect as much of the debris as had any appearance
of utility about it ; and very little that was.

The trail to Cranbrook lies at first through low
flats covered with birch, dog-willow, and other small
scrub. Leaving these it mounts a steep hill and

206

Cranbrook.

itaHi

comes into a land of alternate prairie and forest, in
which the tamarack, a gigantic larch, forms a striking
feature. And what a walk it was ; tlic liglit of the
setting sun glowing on those wonderful red-barked
trees, making more glorious by the contrast with their
long dark shadows the brilliantly lighted glades of
yellow grass, and tinting with the same ruddy hue the
foliage which half concealed their stately pillars, its
delicate needles already turning into gold under the
Midas-touch of King Frost. On the distant ridge the
dark pines shone resplendent, transfigured into trees of
flame ; and behind them the greatest marvel of all —
the sky. That no words of ours could attempt to
describe ; a Turner's brush would fail to give a faint
idea of it, so exquisite were the changes from flaming
yellow to scarlet, through every shade of orange and
crimson, dying away at last with a dull brick-red
fading into purple and growing darker and darker, till
the pale light of a young moon came to help us on our
way, gleaming over the white-edged ponds of alkali
water which lay along our path, and peopling the forest
with mysterious forms as it shone on the weird
blackened stumps of trees which still stood here and
there to remind us of some devastating fire.

At last came a light in the distance, an Indian
camp-fire ; two miles of a huge grass plain, known as
Joseph's Prairie; and the barking of dogs, the neighing
of horses, and the dim outline of a confused huddle-
ment of buildings ; a door thrown open and a huge
cheery English fire-place and welcome instead of an
evil-smelling, talc-windowed American stove and a
register-book, and we were safe at Cranbrook.

And that night we ate a dinner fit for the gods : a

Cranbrook,

207

square meal we had nearly said, but it was more —
it was octagonal — drank real whisky and water, and
went to sleep in real beds.

Cardie arrived next day, having fallen in with a
party of what they call hereabouts Tyees (great chiefs),
which in this instance consisted of very great swells
indeed, no less than certain of the Ministry who were
here on the Indian Question, and with whom he
camped last night.

Time will not permit us to tell of all the kindness
we received at Cranbrook, nor of the Camberwell
Beauties which are the common garden butterfly there,
nor of how Richmond hooked a great fish in the St.
Mary's river, and will in future use waxed twine for
lashing his gaff on to its handle, nor of the night we
spent when the Tyees themselves arrived, a night
which we imagined to have been devoted to a kettle-
competition, but were never sure whether that was
the object of all the narrators of wonders by sea and
land. We present a couple of sample stories, and the
reader may judge for himself of the nature of all.

OF THE SAGACITY OF THE DOG.

" Yes, he was a wonderfully well-trained dog ; he
knew as much as a Christian, and would do any mortal
thing I told him. I remember one night some one
left the dcor open, and I said, ' Shot, shut the door.'
So he went and banged it to ; but the latch wouldn't
catch, and it flew open again. I told him again to
shut it, and the same thing happened, so I said very
angrily, * Now, shut that Door ! ' And he bounced
up from the rug where he had laid himself down and

208

C?'androok,

just stood up against the door to keep it closed, turned
the key with his teeth, and then threw it down close
to me, with a look that said as plainly as words,

'There, d you, I hope tliat'll satisfy you.' By

heavens it's just the solid truth and divil a word of a
lie I'm telling you."

111(1

i \\

CONCERNING THE TENACITY OE LIEE IN
THE GROUSE-mRl).

" Oh, they are wonderfully tenacious of life. I was
out once, and began by missing several. So I de-
termined I luoiild kill the next one anyhow ; and
presently I saw one up in a tree, and I thought I
wouldn't give the beggar a chance by aiming at his
head, but just hit him right in the middle. So I made
a careful shot at his breast (I had that old Enfield car-
bine with a bullet about as big as a walnut), and I'm
blessed if he didn't fly right away as happy as could
be. I couldn't make it out ; but just as I was walking
off I caught sight of a fresh wing lying under the
tree, so I knew the old carbine had been straight on
after all. But it seemed extraordinary a bird could fly
like that with only one wing. However, I had seen
him do it, so I set off again, and in a couple of yards
came on a grouse's breast lying on the ground all
bloody. I thought this even more wonderful ; but of
course he didn't need his breast to fly with, and as
he had left it I might as well take it along for my
breakfast. Just then I glanced up and saw a couple
of legs hanging on a branch : this seemed to explain
the matter to some extent, for naturally if his legs
were shot off he couldn't perch any longer and would

Cranbt'ook.

209

loscd, turned
t down close
y as words,
fy you.' By
[ a word of a

' LIFK IN

ff life. I was
al. So I de-
anyhow ; and
I I thought I
aiming at his
e. So I made
A Enfield car-
|lnut), and I'm
appy as could
I was walking
ng under the
n straight on
bird could fly
,r, I had seen
uple of yards
e ground all
erful ; but of
with, and as
long for my
saw a couple
ed to explain
if his legs
[er and would

have to fly ; but dasli It all, when on tlic other side of
the tree I picked up a newly severed head, the thing
did look almost impossible. It just shows how hard

The " Captain'^ — Cranbrook.

they are to kill, unless you account for it by saying
there was another bird close to the one I shot at, and
it was that that I had seen fly away."

2IO

Cranbrook.

I I V
I: ' ! '

llilli

4' i\

Ah, well, it was a merry night, and if all our re-
collections on it were not strictly accurate there was
no harm intended or done, and may we have many
more of the same sort with equally good fellows.

Cranbrook is a large farm, the apple of Colonel
Baker's e^-c, and certainiy the most go-ahead place
we have seen in the ccantry, but we have doubts
whether the climate is ao suitable for agriculture as
for stock-raising, a3 we understand it is subject to
late frosts. This, however, can only be determined
by actual experience over a certain number of years,
so we offer no opinion on it ; we can only sa}' that
this region at the time of our visit was absolutely
delightful as a dwelling-place.

About the most striking object here was an old
Chinaman who kept what he called an Hotel for his
fellow heathen on the outskirts of the farm buildings.
This individual had the most whimsical wizened old
caricature of a face imaginable ; he rejoiced in the
name of " the Captain," having attained that rank,
and it was whispered even the higher one of Admiral
of the Fleet, on a pirate junk in his giddy youth.
From this honourable post he was advanced to the
still higher one of Lord High Executioner to the{
Cousin of the Sun and Moon (fact), but having at I
length tired of the ceremonial dignity of his exalted
station, he had — discreetly, as some evil speakers hinted
— emigrated to B. C. He was at present engaged
in the somewhat less exciting career of hotelkeeper.j
washerwoman, and dairymaid, though the first two ofl
these professions when the customers won't pay, and!
the last when the butter won't come, are not witho..t|
their thrilling moments.

i if all our re-
urate there was

we have many
lod fellows,
pple of Colonel

go-ahead place
ve have doubts
r agriculture as
it is subject to
be determined
umber of years,
ui only say that

was absolutely

ere was an old
in Hotel for his
; farm buildings,
ical wizened old

rejoiced in the
lined that rank,
• one of Admiral
is giddy youth,
advanced to the
^cutioner to the
, but having at:
ty of his exalted;
il speakers hinted!
present engaged
r of hotelkeeperj
1 the first two off
s won't pay, and!

are not witho..i

211 )

CHAPTER XX.
LAKE MOOYIE

"'^m- On the 27th of S . """l'^'' ""^ "'''k from
Richmond and three iSPr''";- T ^"^^ -' ^^^
we propose, to make near .he' M ' ''"'"'"« '"P
i.e about fourteen miies near ' so^'V^r ''"' ^""'^'^
The orderof our procession, °f Cranbrook.

chmond riding o'n lu:^:^:^^'''^^^'^^^^
''■'PPened to be on speal^inVT ? ^'°^^'''^' "-''o
^ear together. When they had ' ''°"^'" "P '^e
-''es, the, came np with "^he sr™''' ' '""P^^ "^
'■ad stampeded through the Zl f PP^"' '"''°='= horse
o Pieces .efore he t'^ZZ 7^^^' ^'^ P--^
''; ""^ ^'"PP^'- for allowin.-- it " , ., . "''^''^ ''•"•'ous
°f g-it, was, for a wonde Crit '"■""' '^°"-'°-
jounced that he had ^7' •■'"'"'"=" bardie
(^Ponge-bag containing pi„ri,^, "^dicine - chest
patent double magnum flik o^X"-P'»^'cr, and a

N own mackintosh on that ° , "' ^'^"'-y) ""d

H we an with one accord r!' "'" .'"^^ ''-y

lorse in his

ccord
cious

commenced

v;ere
'^o track that

'-^^^ 'n ills capricious wanr^; • ° '"^ ^'^^'^ that

212

Lake Mooyie.

and counter-marching over about 2000 acres in a
solemn row, exactly as if we were beating for cock ;
for there was no more of that brandy nearer than
Justerini's. After two hours of this, during which
the vials of wrath for future outpouring on the
Skipper's head were filled to the brim, we were
obliged to desist ; the unfortunate cause vainly
hoping to appease Cardie by presenting him with his
own mackintosh, a much better one than the lost
treasure. True, he perhaps a little spoilt the gift by
being heard to mutter that "after this it would be
ridiculous to talk of the rain falling alike on the just
and the unjust, for the unjust would have the mackin-
tosh belonging to the just." To add to our annoyance,
a little fox-terrier which had been carefully locked
up to prevent him coming with us had by some
means got out and now appeared upon the scene.

Quite in accordance with what we are accustomed
to expect, while we were despondently wandering
about and our rifles were all reposing by the side of
the trail, this evil-minded dog produced a deer from
somewhere, which he proceeded to hunt up and down
the forest in the midst of us. But we will not dwell
on our woes, which are what every traveller knows
to be his portion in these unhappy hunting-grounds.

It goes without saying that when after all this
delay we arrived at a little prairie where some tepee-
poles advised us to camp, and the waterproof cover-
ing was taken off the pack on Cardies horriC, there,
snugly reposing, were the medicine-chest and mackin-
tosh ! And then there was a hum in the hive.

The next day we stopped at the head of ihe upper
Mooyie lake, only a very short journey, as we were

Lake Mooyie,

213

out for pleasure not business, and moreover Richmond
had to spend all the morning in riding home with
that execrable terrier dog.

Here we were annoyed at breakfast by a gang of
Indians with horses, dogs, and squaws all complete,
dashing through our camp in the most tumultuous
and untamed manner, every horse going in a different
track from all the rest, each creature selecting a new

Lake Mooyie.

teacup or loaf or piece of bacon to tread on, and
raising as much dust and confusion as if they were
coming back from the Derby.

The Indians of this part are a different tribe from
those near Windermere, wlio are mostly Shuswaps ;
these being Kootenays (now often called Upper
Kootenays to distinguish them from those who live
on the Lower Kootenay, the latter, however, being
more correctly Flatbows). They are a rather fine

214

Lake Mooyie.

'ii

]

race ; and their clothes beautiful in the extreme.
They generally commence with a soft grey felt hat,
from which the crown has been removed to allow
their black hair adorned with three feathers to
flourish in the breeze ; this is surrounded by a
brilliant red or blue ribbon ; then comes a nonde-
script flannel shirt, and lastly a kind of trousers
(though that is not quite an accurate description
of the garment according to British ideas). These
"bags" are made very wide, of the most flaming
parti -coloured blanket that money will buy, and with
a broad scalloped fringe all down the place where the
seam ought to be. Lastly, a pair of beautifully orna-
mented mocassins. In this guise, and with a belt
full of cartridges, the Last of the Kootenays mounts
a horse, wraps himself up in another gorgeous blanket,
and with a Winchester rifle and a war-whoop careers
around the country in a state of complete self-com-
placency, followed by a retinue such as the one which
made hay of our camp.

The anger of the Skipper at this behaviour was
assuaged by the appearance at the end of the rabble
of a really good-looking girl, who, he declared, smiled
sweetly upon him, and brought rest to his perturbed
spirit. It is quite certain she scowled darkly up)on
the rest of us, and we don't believe for a minute she
did anything different to the vSkipper, but it pleased
him to think she did, poor fellow, so we let ft pass.

. ' ' I Jim.

Signed / Cardil.
■ I Richmond.

P.S. — We also think she was a boy.

This lake contained many trout and some charr.

Lake Mooyie.

215

though not of incredible size (i^ lbs. was about the
limit of those that found a welcome at our hos-
pitable board), and in the woods the ruffed grouse
were abundant, wh''*^ the!': sharp-tailed cousins were
sufficiently numerous in the varic-us open bits along
which the trail passed. There is no camping-ground
from the top end of the higher lake to the bottom of
the lower, except a poor place at the junction of the
two, so we went straight on to the end of the second,
where the trail crosses the river by a bridge, and
here we decided to stop. Cardie, who was on ahead,
selected the site, which was not quite in the most
open spot, with the object of having the water handy.
When Jim arrived, he, according to his custom towards
anything he has not had the bossing of, began to
criticise. " What on earth made you put the tent in
sucn a cramped hole as this ? " Cardie's only reply
was, " You don't call this cramped surely ? Why, you
must have slept in rooms in London not nearly as big
ar this," gazing vaguely round at the whole of British
Columbia. And here ended the lovely fine weather
which had lately favoured us, a contingency for which
we had become prepared by the sight of the most
beautiful auroras for the last few nights lighting up
the northern heavens ; j^enerally in our e perience
followed by uncertain weather.

Our first day was cold and wet, with great wreaths
of mist hanging low about the surrounding moun-
tains, and everything looking gloomy in the extreme.
It rained so persistently that Richmond and Jim
thoaght they might as well get wet on the mountain
as down in the valley, and climbing up the steep
slopes on the western side were soon lost to sight

i2i6

Lake Mooyie.

If i!il

it'SS.

among the dripping trees. Jim's story at evening
was this : — '""^

" We found the going very bad, burnt and fallen
timber and thick buck-brush, willows and birches, but
far above us we could see through the shifting mists
some slopes covered with patches of grass and trees
that looked likely, and made for them. I never saw
signs of game much fewer in any place, and began to

Cariboo I

disbelieve in the existence of the cariboo that they
said the forests were stiff with hereabouts, but we did
at last come to some tracks only a day old, and
presently arrived at our promised land. Here we
found Douglas firs, with a dense undergrowth of
service-berries and flowering willow, and occasional
large patches of raspberries and thimble-berries,
through which ran so many trails made by bears

Lake Mooyie.

217

at evening

it and fallen
birches, but

hifting mists

ss and trees
1 never saw

and began to

.#ri-

■'m-sy--

[00 that they
ts, but we did
lay old, and
Here we
lergrowth of
id occasional
Imble-berries,
Ide by bears

when feeding on them, that Richmond said we must
have got into somebody's preserves (Bear preserves,
not Raspberry). These plots were not of great ex-
tent, but alternated with similar ones of dead birch
trees, the latter being very thick and difficult to
traverse. Presently in following a very fresh-looking
trail I saw a hoof sticking out from behind a log,
and there we found the remains of a cariboo which
' Brer Bar ' had been feasting upon some time
before. This made us still more hopeful, and we
went on with extra care ; and I can tell you it
wanted care to avoid falling on those slippery
barkless trees, all wet and slimy with this infernal
rain." (Jim being now a respectable married man,
seldom says anything much worse than this with his
lips, but in his heart he still occasionally uses ex-
pressions that the rest of us would never even have
thought of.)

"And so in spite of all our endeavours we did
sometimes slip and make a little noise, and I expect
startled the deer, for while we were in one of the
birch plots I suddenly caught sight of the tail and
hindquarter of a cariboo — all the rest of him was
hidden by the trees — and almost at the same time
was nearly certain I glimpsed another coming out of
the thick firwood just behind him. I showed the tail
to Richmond, and there we stood waiting for some-
thing to happen. It was pretty evident they had
heard us and come out into the birches with the
intention of bolting, but hadn't seen or winded us,
as of course we were working up wind. They were
about 150 yards away across a slight hollow, and any
attempt at stalking was out of the question. So we

2l8

Lake Mooyie.

waited and waited, and at last the deer made up his
mind and ran forward and rather away from us, and
I got just the worst kind of a snap-shot at him, but
most likely the bullet went into one of these blasted *
birches. Anyhow it didn't go into him. Richmond
said he had buck-fever, though he didn't look as if
he had, and there was never another chance. The
front deer was out of sight in an instant, and the
other we only just saw as we turned into the firs."

Richmond mournfully shook his head. " We ought
to have run at them," he lamented.

"Run at them?" , , " ,

" Yes ; and grunted;" and for the rest of the evening
at intervals he was heard murmuring " Run at them,"
and then practising hideous groans which he imagined
to resemble the grunting of the cariboo, but which we
at first took for earthquakes and afterwards for tummy-
aches.

" Then," proceeded Jim, " in following them we
got separated, and I was scared at the mist, which
kept getting worse, and began to look for Richmond
instead of for cariboo. By George ! I thought he was
lost. I knew he had no compass, and pictured myself
hunting for him all over these dissolute hills until I
dropped from fatigue, and I never was more pleased
than to hear him shooting at a blue grouse half way
down the next valley. Where are my dry things ; call
this pleasure indeed?" and so miserably ended that day.

It seems that the Indians do actually, if they can get
near a band of cariboo, " run at them and grunt ; " and
that this behaviour so surprises and bewilders the de-
luded creatures (as well it might) that they run foolishly

* It was a burnt forest. (J.)

Ilii'il

liiililll

Lake Mooyie.

219

hither and thither until they are all killed. None of
our party have ever practised this mode of hunting,
so we can say nothing for or against it. We should
hardly recommend it to any white man unless he can
grunt less appallingly than Richmond.

We fancy it is pretty generally admitted now that
the cariboo cannot be distinguished from the European
reindeer except by the superior size to which they
attain. Their antlers have the same characteristic
" plough " coming from one side only in front of the
face, the same long bare growth between the " brow "
and the top points, and the same peculiarity of being
common to both male and female. Con5,idered as a
sport, this American method of poking about in woods
or lying in wait as the Indians do is not to be com-
pared with the pursuit of the Scandinavian reindeer,
whicl 's in our judgment the very finest stalking that
can bv. had. .

The weather of next day was quite as bad, except
that it "let up " just long enough in the morning to
tempt the Skipper and Jim out, both on the west of
the lake, but on different ground from that tried
yesterday. The latter was home first with nothing to
relate, but the Skipper did not come in till late, and
then bore as much of a yearling mule-deer as he could
carry. His account was very short.

" It took me all the morning to get to the top of the
range, and I was very tired and cross because I had
seen nothing living nor any signs of life. So I rested
there, and then turned to come home another way,
when in a little burnt hollow two young black-tailed
deer"

" Mule deer, my dear donkey," interrupted Cardie.

220

Lake Mooyie.

" Well, they're what they call black-tailed deer in
these parts anyhow, so they are black-tails from my
point of view."

" I tell you there ain't any real black-tails here, but
go on."

" They just jumped up and scooted ; and then I
suppose they had never seen a white man before, for
they stopped to look at me."

" That proves they were mule-deer," put in the
scoffer ; " they thought you were a relation,"

"So I fired at this one: he ran about twenty {
yards and dropped down dead; and then I didn't j
see the use of shooting the other, so let him go."

"After you had fired all your magazine empty at|
him," commented the unbeliever.

The Skipper scorned to reply, and proceeded.
" Well, then, it began to snow, and the wind got up,
and the trees began to snap like carrots."

"Yes, by George! they did that round me, and!
scared me to death," said Jim. " I just crudled in
a hole under a rock till they had stopped. Didn't]
they scare you ? " .

" Not a bit," said the valiant Skipper ; " there!
weren't any where I was — I said I saw them snap-j
ping off, but they were about five hundred feet belowj
me. I didn't care a tinker's cuss for them."

" One gust sent a dozen of them over close to mej
and broke a great big one in two about half wayj
up. I can tell you I don't want any more of it in|
mine." . '

And, to say truth, it is one of the most terri!
fying things possible to be caught out in such a|
time. It seemed as if the weight of the snow whidij

P!!n|l

Lake Mooyic.

22 1

liled deer in
ails from my

ails here, but

; and then 1
an before, for

" put in the
ion."

about twenty I

then I didn't]

him go."

izine empty atj

nd proceeded.
p wind got up,

ound me, and
ust crudled in
.pped. Didn't!

" there

ipper ;
lw them snap-
red feet belo^v
lem."
er close to me,
bout half way
more of it in

le most terril
out in such a
he snow whicli|

was driven against the trees, and stucic to them in
great masses, had something to do with the manner
in which many of them were brolcen short off, instead
of being uprooted as in Canyon Creek.

Again at this camp we were astounded one night
by a thunderous roar, the origin of which we never
really knew, but believed that it must have been
simply a huge flight of ducks getting off the water,
for there were no mountains here capable of pro-
ducing avalanches ; and only these two solutions
occurred to us.

Horse feed ran short, and we could find no more —

[our own provisions were likewise getting low — so on

I the third day we again set off for Cranbrook, the

Skipper taking the western side of the lake on the

way, and Jim the eastern. We stopped for the night

on an open grassy flat called Peavine, about a mile

and a half beyond the higher lake, and long after

dark the Skipper had not come in. When at last,

Iguided by our fire, he did arrive, he was a truly sorry

[spectacle — wet through, pockets and rifle full of mud

[and sand, face scratched, clothes torn — in a word, the

[most dilapidated and dishevelled wreck conceivable ;

jand for this the nature of the country (coupled with

ins own obstinacy for going there) was responsible,

he firmly protested that ho had seen no public-

louses, neither had he been engaged in a political

liscussion with a Separatist. He crossed in the

lark several " navigable harms of the sea " at the

|iipper end of the lake, and in one of them found

limself up to the armpits before he could reach the

)ank.

With great forethought he had taken Jim*s rifle

222

Lake Mooyic.

■'\ I

instead of his own, and the latter seemed to be quitf
put out when next morning he took it to shoot ;i
couple of grouse that were bhniving in a tree over-
head and found that it would neither open nor shut,
and was " a mass of shingle and cement " (Jimesquc ;
euphemism for sand and mud). To complete the tale
of his misfortunes, he had seen no living thing during
his walk, except a skunk and a snake.
• At Peavine we discovered — as usual after the event
— how unlucky it was that we should have come "
down the Mooyie trail (which is really a good hunting .
country) just at this time. All the Indians living round
the Roman Catholic Mission on St. Mary's River had
gone through only a week before on their way to
Sandpoint, a place about 120 miles away, to buy
winter provisions, and they had hunted the place
to death. Jim composed what he called an epitaph
upon it : —

" In vain for sport we wander on,
Of game we are bereft ;
There's nothing right till Injun's gone,
And then there's nothing left."

About twenty of these Indians were now on their
way back home again. They had apparently taken all
their horses with them, and each mare being followed
by her foal, there was an enormous herd feeding on
the coarse grass of the flat this evening. The break-
ing up of the camp next morning was one of the most
picturesque sights that have occurred during our
rambles. As a matter of colouring only the effect was
wonderful : the dull washed-out brown of the grass
and the brighter hue of the willow scrub both set off
by the white tepees, their tops again toned down by

llillilll I

icd to be quite
it to shoot a
n a tree over-
open nor shut,
[:nt " (Jimesque
mplete the tale
ig thing during

after the event
uld have come
a good hunting
ms living round
ary's River had
1 their way to
away, to buy
nted the place
llled an epitaph

gone,

now on their]
rently taken all
being followed!
2rd feeding onj
The break-
Ine of the mostl
[d during our

the effect was
of the grassi
lub both set off

)ned down by

i c'J !• Hi,

I 1 .5 A': i "I

.- i»;f

i ".i

' :• £ "'iiiiilr I'l! iVi ^

r'i

Lake Mooyie.

223

smoke into the yellow and brown which were the
keynote of the whole harmony. Behind was the
brilliant yellow of the quaking asps and the duller
gold of the tamaracks, backed in their turn by the
dark green of the furthest spruce grove, and the
brownish greys and neutral tints of the distant
hills. \

We must mention, as it happened here, our solitary
instance of gratitude in an Indian. Cardie helped a
small boy to carry in a log of wood which was too
j heavy for him ; and that evening his father, who
chanced to be the chief, came to supper with us, and
brought a great load of fire-wood for our use. He
also warned us against the dogs which pervaded the
camp ; and not without cause, for the one thing we
[did leave out, a small tin of dripping, was promptly
[carried off, and brought back to us in a very battered
jtate in the motiiing by another redskin.

We were greeted at Cranbrook by the cheering
intelligence that in th^ immortal words of Ballyhooley
"the Polis were behaving most onruly," and that
they, our own familiar friends, under whose fostering
:are wc had with such confidence left our beautiful
\opc and Ltdie^ had basely betrayed their trust, and
three of them had deserted in our canoes. We were
dso informed that the authorities were going to arrest

f s for '* a haiding and abetting " by supplying the
leans of desertion, which seemed to be the ne plus
lira of insult and injury.
_ We were expecting certain letters of some im-
portance, and the mail-carrier, a particularly good
ipecimen of a sturdy Canadian, arrived to-day on
lorseback, two other horses loaded with mails being

224

La^e Mooyie,

driven or led by him over the 180 miles which
stretch between here and Golden. Cranbrook, though
itself a real Queen Victoria's post-office, only sends
and receives letters once a fortnight during the
summer, and once a month in winter. No wonder
that letters for this country are addressed B. C.
However, if they go on as energetically as they have
begun, it seems likely that in the near future they
will be entitled to date A. D., or perhaps even a
little ahead of that.

When next day we arrived at the Ferry, we found
that the first part at any rate of the ominous rumour
was strictly true ; bu«: of the last the only sign was
that we were invited ""o a bounteous repast at the
mess, which, as we had eaten an enormous dinner!
just half an hour before, was somewhat of a trial, but
we did it all right, such is the invigorating influence j
of the climate. The officer in command sent off a
couple of men to follow the canoes down to the Line]
(the U.S. boundary, for which, of course, the de-
serters had made), and find out where they were and|
what chance there was of recovering them, and that
was all that could be done. The Line was sixty-five!
miles distant, and we could only sit down and wait]
for the return of the messengers.

!sl&

8o miles which
•an brook, though
Rfice, only sends
ght during the
?r. No wonder
ddressed B. C.
lly as they have
ear future they
perhaps even

( 22S )

Ferry, we found
»minous rumour

only sign was
'< repast at the
lormous dinner
it of a trial, but
ating influence
land sent off a
wn to the Line
ourse, the de-

they were and
them, and that

was sixty- five
iown and wait

CHAPTER XXL
PACKING.

J HE next ffw A

°Wiged .0 ren^rZTC' '''''' J°"^' <•- we were

'f above .he river, so Tat ^, ?•'''''" ^'"'^ "'-".
'^bo'T; and there was -,„ !h """^ water was a

W'-'d, with intervals of "now" r'^^PP'^ °'" -^"'d
fy licre that the amount of Th "'"• "^^ ™»y

Ml during our exped t"on ' """""odkhs that

'- ".-.d been ,ed to'etpec" T """^' ^^^^'^^ 'han
-^ wet on the whole Is'h 'e 'f "^'^'^^ ""^'ng about
»d .0 capricious as to comn^eM " '''""''"' '^'^'^^l
-own d,stineti„n that "Cnnfil' ^"^"'"^' "><= well-
"d weather only a few days " r"'' '" "«^ "'"e,
'^^^"red t,s that this was an. . T^ °"' ''' "e
exceptional year, and from the f'^ ''""°™--" ^"d
,7'' and genera) characterltl 7 """"■= <"" 'he
,»'">«« in,agine this to be H.e f . °'^ ""^ ^""""■J' we
people began to tel, us th t aft '''°"' ""'^ "">«
hid and wet the I„di ' Z„ ''^""' '' week more of
h we should have '-;, 7:- 'T'" -''-e, and
^very morning to gaze ah. ' ^''''''' "^ed

'"d 'ower down the Roeki s 'T^ ^""^^P'"^ '°wer
'»•»" have to den up hetlif ?'' "'^°^-^-' we
^••'-''c treats us as if we a so ! u"""'' '""'^ ""t "

we also were bears) ; and then

226

Packing.

consolingly, " but I guess we'll get out in the thaws
next spring anyhow. We can weather it all right
here with plenty of mits and mocassins." Mits and
mocassins are Cardie's delight ; he buys a pair of
each on every possible occasion, and has got a huge
bag which he will carry round with him, and which
we believe to contain nothing in the world except
" Darwin's Origin of .Species " and a lot of mocassins
and mits.

We could not spare the time to go hunting, but
fished with fair results in the St. Mary's River. The
Roman Catholic Mission on that stream is a dis-
appointing place. It is of considerable antiquity
(by Canadian standard), and might easily by this |
time have acquired a venerable moss-grown air of I
monastic repose. But nothing of the sort has happened.
It is merely a squalid, untidy collection of mudded I
wooden hovels, with nothing venerable or restful about!
them ; or if there is, it is hidden by the dirt. I

On our (the eastern) side of the Kootenay, situated!
on the Wild Horse Creek, is the town of the samel
name, about five miles back in the mountains. Once,]
in the early days of the gold-rush, this place con-
tained as many as 20,000 inhabitants. That was!
the time when at the Ferry flour sold at four shillingsl
a pound, and the toll for crossing the river was £\ — I
the dearest bit of trans;)ort in the world we imagine,
amounting to about threepence a yard. And on thcj
bank, we arc told, men camped night after nightj
waiting for their turn to cross, and fighting for
even to the death. Now, Wild Horse is sadly shornj
of its former glory, but there are still several hundred
miners there, including a large number of the inevioov^

it in the thaws
her it all right
ns." Mits and
)iiys a pair of
las got a huge
liim, and which
i world except
Dt of mocassins

JO hunting, but
's River. The
ream is a dis-
irable antiquity
easily by this
)S-grown air of
rt has happened,
tion of mudded
or restful about
le dirt,
otenay, situated
A^n of the samej
.intains. Once,
this place con-
its. That wasj
at four shillingsi
river was £l —
rid we imagine,!
d. And on thej
ght after night
fighting for iil
e is sadly shornj
several hundred
ler of the inevi-j

Between us anr? tu-
Hospital, in wl,ici, at tht tLT "°°'' ""^ P°"^e
were down with some ic nd of 7. '"T"' °'' "'^ »™y

'■'■ ' - .'■ -■' • >•■';■;'•■''"•'

Our Pantry. Gal5raitA's Ferry

[for B. C is at

'f-e as- it is p:::^\:: z'^'y ''"^ ^^^ ^"
ft^tCe.'^-"' '- -- " of Lr o^\r

^^ -el;: jrif Sr;f -- -d pant., out

- 'o ew. J, S; --;; --on.

228

Packing.

days. On the fourth the Police scouts came back,
and announced that they had just reached the canoes
in time. Those villainous deserters had turned them
adrift after reaching the Line, and a band of stone-
broke gambling Indians had captured them, and were
just about to depart when our men arrived on the
scene and rescued them. They were now safely
deposited with "a lady" who had a ranch about
seventy miles away. It was some little consolation
to hear that these miscreants had all been upset,
one canoe twice ; and that one of the men was all
but drowned, and was in a very decrepit state in
consequence. >

And now our ill luck came to an end for a time,
Mr. Phillipps, the Indian agent, arrived, and hearing||
of our plight, most kindly lent us a couple of horses||
and pack-gear to enable us to get down to where
the Liilie and Hope were lying, at a place known as
Tobacco Plains. There we should find a store to
replenish our exhausted stock of provisions, and
thence should have the choice of two trails leading
southwards, which would in another hundred mlk;
or so bring us to a railway.

On the 1 0th of October, the weather having a
last settled its differences with some other weatherj
leaving the Rockies a marvel of glistening peaks an
pinnacles, we once more resumed our journey. Ou
course lay through the Police Camp, where quite
levee was held to wish us good luck, down a stee:
blutf into the bed of the Wild Horse Creek. Lea\i
ing this tumbled untidy flat of enormous beds
shingle, among which in many channels the strca
rambled about, the colour of macadamised road m

oil

1 1\

Packing.

229

ts came back,
led the canoes
.d turned them
band of stone-
:hem, and were
arrived on the
3re now safely
a ranch about
ttle consolation
all been upset,
he men was all
ecrepit state inj

I end for a time.

ved, and hearingl

couple of horses!

down to where!

place known asj

find a store tcl

provisions, andl

o trails leading

hundred milel

gather having al

ie other weatherj

Itening peaks an|

^r journey. Out

), where quite

|k, down a steel

Creek. Leai

lormous beds

inels the strea]

miised road mt

from the gold-washing up above, we breasted the
further bank, and were glad to see the last of the
Ferry, where, though we had received nothing but
kindness, we could hardly be said to have enjoyed
ourselves.

As from this time our operations were chiefly
conducted by the aid of pack horses, we will try to
describe something of the methods adopted. Most
people have heard of the Diamond Mitch ; and some
few know how to make it. Those who do not shall
first read what Mr. Lord in his " Naturalist in British
Columbia " has to say on the matter, after wliich
they shall please themselves about reading what
we say.

*' To describe the manner of ' putting on ' a load
and properly lashing it when on is impossible " (that
appears to settle the matter, doesn't it ?) " A month's
daily practice is insufficient to make an apt scholar a
moderately good packer. One may watch the mode
of fastening the load with a riata for a year twice a
I day, and be no more able to do it at the twelve-
i month's end than the flute could be learned by
looking at another blow and finger it; hence written
description would be useless." This seems to dis-
count the value of our information considerably, but
|we are going to try all the same.

Take two men, one horse or mule, one pnck-saddle,
)nc lash-rope (which Mr. Lord calls riata), two or
[three packages, one mantle or covering for the whole.
'he lash-rope is from thirty to forty feet long,
terminating at one end in a synch * (girth) of

* Wc have seen this word spelt also "cinch;" but it is not to be
found in either shape in the dictionary.

230

Packing.

ordinary size, the end of which remote from the
lash-rope is furnished with a large smooth wooden
hook, in which a rope can run easily. The lash-ropc
and synch are shown at the bottom of the sketch.
Place the saddled horse between the two men, one
of whom has the lash-rope. Simultaneously the men
lift and hang or bind on to the saddle at each side
the packs, which ought (and this is very important) \
to be of equal weight. If there is a third it is put
on the top in the most convenient form according to cir-

The Diamond Hitch.

cumstances. {N.B, — It is in the difficulty of adjusting
packs to the best advantage under continually varying j
conditions that the true art of packing lies, and this!
can be met by nothing but incessant practice and
experience.) Cover all with the mantle (generally
a strong waterproof sheet) to protect it from the|
elements.

Now let the near-side man throw the loose end ofl
the lash-rope diagonally across the pack from the
front of the near-side to the back of the off-side,

Packing.

231

leaving a yard or two of the end hanging over at the
back. Then pass the synch under the horse's belly,
the otT-man receiving it and holding it with the hook
just coming below the bottom of the pack point out-
wards. Now pass that portion of the lash-rope
attached to the synch over the pack in a bight
(crossing the piece first mentioned) ; this the off-man
receives, places in the hook at B, and draws taut,
the near-man also hauling the slack to D from the
hook upwards. Now keeping the length B D taut
in the left hand, with the right hand turn back at D
the rope first placed on the pack, so that it encircles
the near half of the pack in a loop D C, pulling down
in front at D and up at C. The off-man standing
behind the horse then hauls at the end of the rope
first placed on the pack until this loop is tight, and
the rope is pulled into a sharp angle at D. Now the
off-man turns his rope sharply back at E towards the
head of the horse, but before hauling tucks the end
under the rope A F E B at F. He then hauls tight
from E to the front and so encircles the off-side of
the pack in a loop like the other, pulling down at the
front and up at the back until the near-man can give
a final haul to the tucked end, making the angle F.
Fasten off at the most convenient place, generally by
taking it down to the synch along F C.

Thunder ! it certainly does look a little complicated,
but that's how it's done, and the reader may be con-
soled by knowing that understanding it is simply
nothing to doing it. And if he will reflect that we
had to hitch and unhitch three awkwardly shaped
packs of miscellaneous materials in this manner every
day, generally twice a day, sometimes three times, he

mm:':-' ff

:iil

232

Packing.

will cease to wonder that sweetness of temper was
not our prevailing characteristic.

Other hitches there are of less fame than this,
notably the " Squaw Hitch," a comparatively simple
affair, which we found very useful with our smaller
packs in the Sinclair Pass. Then there is the
" Hudson Bay Wind," which we never tried, but
which we are informed consists of winding a few
score of yards of rope round pack and horse, as if
you were putting splints on a broken arm. This
sounds effective, as one fails to sec how the horse and
pack could part company, but it also gives one the
idea of possible discomfort to the animal. The great
beauty of the " Diamond Hitch " consists in the fact
that as you tauten up each new angle where the
ropes cross it also puts a further strain on the other
angles, so that the final haul, which is generally
accomplished by placing the foot against the horse
and pulling with might and main, makes the ropes
tight enough to play music on. The effective pattern
of the mesh-like binding can be seen in the sketcii,
and the last merit is that to take it off it is only
necessary to pull out the end at K, when by simply
unhooking the bight at B the whole of the lashing is
free and lifts off at once.

So much did this daily worry prey upon our minds
that we had thoughts at one time of bringing out this
great work as a shilling dreadful, under the name
of "The Diamond Itch: a Bond Street Mystery."
" The Squaw Hitch ; or Arinals of the Divorce
Court," is another title which we feel sure would
attract the reading public ; and " The Hudson Bay
Wind ; or the Frozen Cyclone," contains in itself all

Packing.

f temper was

Tie than this,
ativcly simple

I our smaller
there is the

/er tried, but
binding a few
d horse, as if

II arm. This
' the horse and

gives one the
al. The great
sts in the fact
gle where the
n on the other
^ is generally
inst the horse
es the ropes
ffcctive pattern
in the sketch,
off it is only
lien by simply
the lashing is

pon our minds

nging out this

Ider the name

}eet Mystery."

the Divorce

tl sure would

Hudson Bay

IS in itself all

the elements of a successful story of Arctic adventure.
We beg to state that all these titles are registered or
patented, or whatever the legal process ma}' be : To
infringe which will be forgery. V.R.

Stories of the difficulties o'" packing and the ludicrous
mishaps caused b} incompetency meet one at every
turn in a country where practically all the traffic is
carried on by this means, for between Galbraitli's
Ferry and the South, West, and East, for 150 miles
in every direction, there is nothing in the shape of a
road, but only the narrow track on which one hf>rsc
at a time can thread his way through the interminable
forest.

One of the Tyers told us that in his younger
clays he and another man were reduced to absolute
despair by their bad luck i.i this respect; do what
they would they could not get the trick of keeping
the pack together and on the horse's bark, and the
many accidents which occurred in consequence were
gradually depriving them of everything they jiossessed
in the wide world, including their peace of mind.
And at last one morning, when things had gone
more than usually wrong, and they were meditating
suicide, they chanced on a traveller who knew all
about it, and him they induced to pack their one
remaining horse properly. This he did, and with
restored happiness they marched forward that day,
and at night they reasoned thus: "We have only
two more days to travel, and it is better that one
horse should be miserable than that two men should
cut their throats ; let us then leave the pack on him
and go without food or change of clothing rather than
once more have our things scattered to the winds of

t. '

234

Packing.

heaven." So they tethered tlie horse to a tree, all
tightly lashed and diamond hitched as he was, and
the first gleams of morning light shone upon a woeful
scene. For behold that perfidious animal had slept
upon the kettle until the same was fiat even as a
plate, and had burst open the flour sack and rolled
himself in the contents thereof, so that whereas
he had gone to bed bay, so now he was white like
unto a miller; moreover he had tied the lash-rope
in divers knots around his legs, and the rest of the
pack he had scattered quadriviously and utterly
dispersed, save such things as the skunks and other
evil beasts had chawed up. And what happened
next deponent sayeth not.

It is most distressing to see the backs of almost
all the pack animals in the country ; hardly any of
them are free from huge raws, and the poor things
must suffer terribly. A sore once started has
scarcely any chance of recovering, for men cannot
or will not give the necessary time and trouble to
attend to it and so arrange the packs as not to bear
on it. None of the horses that we used during our
travels were sound in this respect, but by great care
we cured all that we had for any length of time,
with the exception of the old roan, who seemed to be
unalterable in every way.

The two horses Phillipps lent us were both white,
one being slightly flea-bitten : and to him was allotted
the name of Spot ; the other one being called Plain,
because — well, we don't wish to say anything unkind,
but he ivas plain. Spot was slightly addicted to
kicking, and to demonstrate this peculiarity to the
world at large his tail had been cut in the form

•>IX

. , i M . iigif a ir . g i - «aBwpw^ip|p

» y it^»W.ii»ii L i >NM* .1 III M WI

Packing.

-03

to a tree, all
J he was, and
upon a woeful
imal had slept
lat even as a
ack and rolled

that whereas
was white like

the lash- rope
he rest of the
>r and utterly
Links and other
vhat happened

acks of almost
hardly any of
he poor things
started has
men cannot
nd trouble to
as not to bear
sed during our
by great care
ngth of time,
seemed to be

re both white,
n was allotted

called Plain,

[thing unkind,

addicted to

liarity to the

in the form

of a tooth-brush, which led to that name also being
bestowed upon him. The third horse was our (R)own,
whom when we were all good-tempered, was affection-
ately addressed as " Roany ; " in more adverse circum-
stances he was known as " the roan ; " and when still
greater misery supervened as " that roan." Ordinarily
he was called " that fill-in-according-to-fancy roan."

Spot was a conceited horse, probably because he
alone of the party never lost his tooth-brush ; he always
thought he knew better than any one; you couldn't
teach him anything, and the worst of it was that
Plain backed him up, and thought there was no one
in the world like him. We argued it out with the
thickest sticks we could cut, we reasoned with him
and tried to persuade him with rope ends and axe-
handles, but no, he persisted in thinking that Tooth-
brush was always entirely right, and we entirely wrong.
Nevertheless on the whole we loved old Plain, and
even this defect of his showed the staunchness and
single-mindedness of his character.

Spot always led the way, and was most amusing if
our Own tried to pass him. He would crowd his
competitor off the path into a tree or over a precipice
in the most light-hearted way sooner than lose his
place.

Once fairly off, we got along well, and presently
passed a ranch, to the owner of which we had been
asked to deliver a message. But when the Skipper
arrived within a quarter of a mile or so of the house,
he became aware that a skunk must be sharing the
habitation, and getting considerably more than his
fair share too. So we departed hurriedly, and a few
miles further on met the co-tenant out hunting. He

236

Packiuo-.

told us that they had quarrelled last night, and he
had succeeded in shooting his unwelcome partner,
which comforted us greatly, as until then we hal
imagined that it was the skunk who had done the
killing. We suppose if any one enters that ranch this
winter, his friends will know it until quite late in the
spring.

Mot Acid Carbolic, or Chloride of Lime,

Or "he worst disinfectant that's known at this time,

Not even a stink-pot from Chinaman's junk

Has got the least chance of outsmelHng that skunk.

Yon may break, you may siiatter the ranch if you will,

But the scent that aK^se there v/ill cling to it still.

ii-^i'i

" "sx

■"1

\ y

I, \
?1 '

■ii''

, j

Tiie survivor advised us to try the next bit of
prairie for chicken, saying it was an uncommonly gocu
place. Finally, on our asking what sport he had had,
replied that he had seen nothing but a big black wolf,
which, however, had eluded him, and with that wc
parted.

No one made any comment, and we walked on,
pondering over these things in our minds, and
presently some one said " About that wolf," and wc
all laughed in our nasty unpleasant way. If by this
laugh wc did him an injustice, we are very sorry ; but
somehow it seemed to have struck us all that this
particular Big Black Wolf was an animal that only
appeared to tendcrfeet,'"' and must be cl..;ssed with
the Big Black Bull of our childhood, which used to
meet us in the lane when it was going home to be
milked, and frightened our young lives out.

And when we came to the prairie and looked at it,

* A tenderfoot = Griffin, Johnny Raw, Greenhorn, Freshman, &c.

Packing.

and even tried a little of it, and came to the conclusion
tliat there neither was, nor since the sunnner had
been, one single chicken on it, wc became confirmed in
oi'.r incredulity. So meeting a man soon afterwards
who was going to the ranch, we sent word by him
that it just swarmed with birds (which was true;
they were blue-birds), in the hope that the owner of
Skunk Mali would spend the rest of tiie autumn
tramping up and down it with dog and gun.

Freslimnn, iS:c.

( 238 )

CHAPTER XXII.

ON THE TRAMP.

We stopped for the night on a level prairie near
the Kootenay, which has here settled down to re-
spectable behaviour, though it has a relapse further
on. We had made about twelve miles without any
trouble, for the weather was delightful, the packs
behaved well, and altogether things went happily.
At our camp was a big fallen tree which was so
conveniently placed for baking tliat we made an extra
quantity of bread.

We now bake in a manner somewhat different
from our old m^.:liod, which consisted in placing the
dough in a frying-pan with a lid over it, then putting
the pan on red-hot embers and heaping some more
on to the lid.

This used to make excellent bread if care was
taken, but especially in rough weather or in sunlight
the difficulty of regulating evenly the top and bottom
heat almost always caused one side to be more or less
burnt, and we have now adopted the more usual
Canadian plan

The fire is made if possible against the side of a
big log, other smaller pieces being often placed at
right angles, the object being to get as much heat
thrown downwards from a glowing surface as pos-

On the Trarnp,

239

sible. The dough is mixed with baking powder in
the ordinary ^vay (for ..1 a constantly moving camp
making yeast is too much trouble). Then we flour
or grease the two frying-pans, place a flattish round
loaf in each, and with a short stick prop up the
handles of the frying-pans at such an angle as to
expose the loaf to the fire, without being so steep as
to let it slide out.

We also usually place a few embers bj^hind the

pan. In a very few minutes the loaves should be
turned, both round sideways and upside down, and
this turning has to be frequently repeated till they
have risen and are sufficientl}' hard to keep their
shape. Then we tp'.e them out of the pans (which
are thus free for another couple of loaves), and con-
tinue the baking by propping them round the fi'e
with s*"*'Vs, and turning when required. In this w.iy
we hav . a constant succession of loaves follov^^ing
each other every ten uiinutes, and in three-quarters
of an hour can finish enough for two days.

The description of it would hardly lead one to
expect good bread, but it is a fact that the very best
bread that it is possible to make with baking powder
can be baked in this way, which is fortunate, as we
are all decidedly dainty in the matter of bread. One
great advantage of this country from our point of
view is the wonderfully good flour ; the Winnipeg
Hour which we bought at the Ferry is as perfect a
production as can be hoped for in this vale of tears.
We consider ourselves competent judges, and have
compared it with the best American brands to the
disadvantage of the latter.

One of our favourite luxuries is the tortilla (pre-

240

On the Travip.

nounccd torteca). This is the recipe. Make ordinary
dough as for bread. Plant a stick in the ground near
the fir J at an angle of about 25° or 30°. Have
another small clean stick ready, and a frying-pan
of lard or butter heated as hot as possible short
of burning it. Take a piece of dough the size of a
small hen's egg, flatten it between the hands, and
making a hole in the centre, quickly work it out into
a flat ring of about two inches inside diameter. Drop
it flat in the grease (the pan, of course, is kept on the
fire), v/hich should easily cover it, turn it almost
immediately, and in a few seconds it will be cooked.
When of a light brown colour, fish it out with your
little stick, and hang it on the slanting one. If the
grease is the right heat, the cooking of one tortilla will
occupy just the same time as the forming of the next,
and so the process goes merrily on until the slanting
stick is full of lovely crisp crumpety rings, which are
hailed with joy by your companions when they come
in tired and hungry.

Another excellent dish which made a frequent
appearance at our meals was Pigjeree, a mixture of
bacon boiled until quite tender and chopped small
with boiled rice, seasoned with pepper, &c., and
warmed up together in a frying-pan until the rice
began to brown, the bacon grease being sufficient to
prevent it sticking and burning.

The frying-pan is often scoficd at as the resource
of a bad and ignorant cook, but it is wonderl'iil
how much can be done with it, and in fact how few
other cooking utensils are really necessary. \Vc
finished by the mercy of Providence — for we fully
expected it would finish us — all the so-called cofice |

On i/ic Traw/>

' I • 7 ~ -— ^41

which we bought '^^ r..! ? ^^ "^ ~

"-1 green colee o "^^ f"'' ""^ -<^ "-e
"struck" at the Feir Tr '"' '^■'"^ ^^'"'^h we
or every other day i,, ;„, Z Zin^t """^ ''''^
stirnng or continuously shil-in^ ^r^'P''""' "^''^'.y
I n,inutes or so required^^t"^ '""^ P"" '^'^ "'^ "^"
our coffee is ve^good til T'" "'"-^^'^^^ "'«

.^^ove that of a4ltdr It: fr? ''' '^^^^

I acquainted. ' ^^^^'^ ^vhich vvc are

I Our tea is excentfnnni k •

• ^'If '-e tea being eith ' t^^" ^ ^^^ ^P^^'^-n,
: ^^'^ter than that. Altogether it is. T'' ^' "' "^^^
^ pose that can^ping necesl.n " ne ns rl T"" '^ "'P"
^•ourse there are times when thin' '^ "^ ^' ^^
•■"'-'J^'^^ Jire unpleasant for .1 ^f ^^° ^^'^^^^ ^-^"^
^^■J^o understand their worl- 'n a ' "^ "^^'^^^ ^"^"^^vs
^^-- periods ought neot:;f'-V^ "^"^^^^"
J- than enough to make the :LilV''":'°"' "^^
pleasant as soon as the "rou^L'' "^ '^"^^^

The second day we wentT ^ / ^''''•

-uthvv..rd, stiiJ favoured rvth^r^'r''"^^^ '''' ^-^'"^
- ^magnificent country I '^T^'^'''^ ''"^^^ trayersing

lt^^--tiiiunr;iei^^^-V:-r'°^^"^^^

Nen hidden far avyay from fh • '''^'' ^^^'^^'^^^^ ^-^^^

M along this portion of the K ? ^" '" ^"'^^^' ^"^

t^-' boundary there are 'n r^T""' "^"^>' ^^^ ^o
^^'-^irie land to bc> fo,,'^ '^^^ "^'"^ ""-^^^^'ed plots of

I-

lot wish or

Engh'sh gent]

<-'nicn with

p'JJ^ plenty of

expect to make i

"Kdl capital who do

J us try Jiye

calthy

room [
comfoit^

lere.

t)Jy (tht>ugh \^
^^'"nate, with the Union Jack

ortuncs, we fancy tlieix- is
ey could with modci-ate

i'h

:"iot hi

xuriously) in a
over their heads.

242

On the Tranil).

and the Queen's writs and taxes so to speak on their
doorstep ; a fish in the river, a joint on the mountain,
and game in the forest all ready for every man's
dinner ; and three acres and a cow in the back-garden ;
in fact with all the surroundings which we are taught
to believe necessary for a happy existence.

The great drawback (if it is a drawback) is, of
course, inaccessibility ; but every year removes some
portion of that objection, and some fine day the loco-
motive will find its way here, and then those who
preceded it will have their reward. Who knows how
soon that day will come ?

Among other attractions of this pleasant land is
the curious fact that though the mosquito is decidedly
plentiful, yet there are no fleas, bugs, or poisonous
snakes. The harmless necessary earthworm is also
conspicuous by his absence, though how the dicky-
birds and farmers, fishermen and Darwinians get on
without him is more than we can tell. We met once
upon a time an aged Indian who related to us the
native tradition accounting for this state of things.
As we could not understand a word he said, and
most of our readers would probably fare no better if
we printed his story in his own tongue, we have had
it translated at immense expense, and here it is : —

HYAS CUMTAX KLIMINAWIT.

You shall hear how Hiawatha
Came into the Rocky Mountains,
Came to place upon the mountains
All the kinds of birds arid insects,
All the bats, the beasts and fishes,
All the reptiles and red herrings,

On the Tramp.

When as yet the rocks and forests,
And the air, the lakes, and rivers
Were devoid of living creatures,
Simply wee " To let, Unfurnished."

In a wicker-cage he carried
Birds of many sorts and sizes.
And whenever he thought proper
He would open wide the doorway,
And let out a wingtid creature.
First Keneu, the great war-eagle,
And the grouse, the Mushkodasa,
And the other well-known dickies.
Which are printed in due order
In the long Vocabulary,
Excellent Vocabulary,
To the Song of Hiawatha.

Leading strings had Hiawatha,
Leading strings to all the creatures
Which on four feet walked behind him.
Quadrupeds the learned call them.
So the great professors call them.
When he reached a piece of country
Suitable for any creature,
He would loose the proper beast there,
Let him loose into the country.

He had brought a bowl of fishes,
In a crystal bowl the fishes.
As he came to any streamlet,
Any kind of running water,
Any pool or lake or river,
He would throw into the water
One or two of all his fishes.
First the pike, the Maskenozha,
And the sturgeon, Mishe Nahma,
And the Ugudwash, etcetera ;
They whose names appear in order
In t'lat same Vocabulary
Which already has been mentioned,
Once already has been mentioned.

In a wooden box he carried
All the miscellaneous creatures,

244

0)1 the Tramp.

il?|;

Bats and reptiles and red herrings,
Any that he wasn't quite sure
Which division ought to have them,
What their scientific class was.

All the insects he had sorted,
Placed in paper bags the insects,
In one bag the Norfolk Howards,
In one bag the fleas, the Jumpers,
And Suggema, the mosquitoes,
In another bag he carried.

Just when starting Hiawatha
Found he hadn't got the earthworms,
Had no room for any earthworms :
Filled were all his great-coat pockets,
Filled his fishing-bag and fly-book,
Filled his mocassins and matchbox.
No place left for any earthworms
But the mouth of Hiawatha.
Thus he wandered in the mountains,
Silently throughout the mountains.
Making no remarks whatever
As he journeyed through the country,
Peopling all the streams and forests.
With the birds and beacts r.nd fishes,
And the other creatures mcntionc'
In the same Vocabulary
To which in some former verses
We already have alluded.

As he journeyed Hiawathr
Came into the Western Pro ince
Which is called Columuia British) :
Quite impossible the name is
To insert in any metre
In its proper form and oraer .
B. C. all its natives call it,
B. C. is the way we write it.

To the mountains then of B. C.
Hiawatha brought his creatures,
Creatures peopling all the mountains.
First he looked the Mushkodasa,
Mahng the loon, the wild-goose Wawa,

On the Trauip.

:45

Mama, Kah-gah-i;ee, Shuh-shuh-gah,
And the other cockyollies
Named in the Vocabulary
To the Song of Hiawatha.

Then he loosed Ahdeek the reiiidccr,
And the squirrel, Ajidaumo,
And the great bear, Mishe Mokwa,
And Ahmeek, the king of beavers,
And the mountain ram, the Bighorn,
And a lot of other beasties
For whose names we must refer you,
Most reluctantly refer you,
To the same Vocabulary,
For there isn't much more paper,
And the Printer's so bad-tempered.
Yes, his temper's simply awful.

All the creatures as ne freed them
Skipped and frisked about the mountain,
Gambolled all about the mountain,
But the mountain ram, the Bighorn,
Took a very mean advantage
When he saw that Hiawatha
Was employed with other matters,
Not attending to the Bighorn :
Swift he came at Hiawatha,
Butted him with both his big horns,
Just below his manly bosom
In the middle of his waistcoat,
Of his best embroidered waistcoat.

Not a word said Hiawatha,
But he sat down very quickly,
With one little gasp and guggle :
Sat down with a sickly spasm
On a paper bag of insects,
On a busted bag of skeeters.
And Suggema, the mosquitoes.
Left the paper bag in fragments,
Scooted off into the forests,
Went rejoicing to the forests.
To the forests dark and gloomy
Of the Western Province B. C.

246

On the Tramp.

Every bloominjf last mosquito
Went into the B. C. forests,
None were left for Hiawatha
To set free in other countries.

But the bugs, the Norfolk Howards,
And the fleas, the Merry Jumpers,
And the rattlesnakes, the reptiles.
Still were kept by Hiawatha :
None of them he loosed in B. C,
Took them all awav from B. C,
Saving, " There's enough alreadv.
Misery enough and cussing,
I5oth of scratching and of cussing.
With Suggema the mosquito,
With that darned ding-blamed mosquito."

What became of all the earthworms ?
No one knows where all the earthworms
Went in that distracting moment,
When so quickly Hiawatha
Sat down with a gasp and guggle,
With a choking gasp and guggle.
That's the reason why the earthworms
Are the only pleasant creatures
That are never found in B. C. ;
That is why their names arc missing
From that same Vocabulary,
Most complete Vocabulary
To the Song of Hiawatha.

Soon after starting we came to Bull River, a swift
stream about four feet deep, and at present in a
shrunken channel of about thirty yards wide. This
mountain torrent has — like all the other tributaries of
Jthe Kootena}'' except the gold-washing Wild Horse —
the most beautifully transparent cold water imaginable ;
every stone at the bottom as clearly defined as if through
a sheet of plate-glass, deceiving one into the belief that
it is not more than eighteen inches in depth.

On the Tramp.

247

The Skipper did not thiiiiv the horses could manage
to carry us in addition to their heavy packs, so
took off the two pairs of trousers, which he now
habitually wore, and tying his clothes round his neck,
waded through. lie came out perfectly numb on the
other side, and with his legs looking thinner, if possible,
than when they went in. The other two " got on the
'oss, and said, my eyes, 'e's a 'oss and 'e must go,"
and kneeling behind the pack with rifles and sticks,
urged the unfortunate animals across. An agonised
howl went up from the Skipper as he saw old Plain's
pack, containing the camera, lurch into the water at
one corner. What a relief it was when we imme-
diately overhauled the pack to fuid that the least
treasured of all our possessions, the soap, was the
only thing that had suffered. Little should we have
recked in these cold days if it had swum bodily
down the river and fed the fishes which abound
therein.

These big trout would be certain to try it, for some
of them eat things which one would hardly suppose to
be naturally intended for their food. For instance,
we have found their insides just as full of mice as
an old barn — common domestic mice, not watcrshrews
or young voles, or any deception of that kind. Now,
how on earth — or in water — did these two creatures,
the trout and the mouse, manage to meet ? Does
the trout climb out on to the bank and scour the
fields and sit patiently outside holes for the mouse ;
or does the mouse come and scull about the river
and go fishing for tittlebats, and thus fall a prey
to the trout ? We have never seen either of these
manoeuvres going on, but something of the sort must

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248

On the Tratiip.

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happen to account for the numbers of great fish that
seem to subsist chiefly on mice.

A few miles further on we came to a solitary miner
camping near a little forest creek of very good water.
This ran at the end of a beautiful open glade along
the side of a dense willow patch, in which the ruffed
grouse were very plentiful. He was much pleased to
see us, because, for some reason, he was afraid of
the Indians ; and as he seemed a very quiet, decent
sort of fellow, we stopped there, and saw him safe off
on his lonely wanderings next morning.

He told us, among other things, that he was once
gold-hunting in Bull River, by a method called, we
believe, "bed-rock" mining. This consists in damming
or diverting a river, or portion of one — which in a
big stream like Bull can only be done by erecting
wing-dams in various places — thus laying dry some
of the channel. The gold lies in quite large pieces,
as big as a sovereign or more, in the cracks and
crannies at the bottom, and a s iccessful damming
operation often pays well. There was, he said, a
large colony of miners there, and all were busy at
their work, when suddenly, without any warning, the
river ceased to run, and the whole watercourse was
laid bare. They all plunged into it, and for a few
minutes worked with feverish excitement, picking up
more gold in that time than ordinarily they would
have secured by many weeks of labour. And then
the uncanniness of the thing struck them, and seized
with panic, they all rushed out of the river-bed, and
began hastily to move their tents and belongings,
which were close to the bank, on to higher ground.
Only one man dared to return into the bottom, and

On the Tramp.

249

reat fish that

he simply walked up the course of the stream, pick-
ing up gold as he went, till he reached a ravine in
the mountains. There he found that a huge snow-
slide had come down and blocked the river ; and so
enormous was the quantity of snow that it actually
held up that tremendous volume of water for eight
hours, in which time, as our miner said, if they had
only had pluck enough, every man of them could have
made his fortune.

The next stream we crossed was Sand Creek, about
eighteen miles from Bull River, and though not quite
so large, equally beautiful. The latter was noticeable
for its pines, but at Sand Creek the striking feature
was a large patch of the most splendid tamaracks we
had yet seen. We fear it is impossible to give any
real idea of the beauty of those magnificent red-barked
larches, their symmetrically tapered trunks bare for
half their growth, and above that branching with
graceful tracery of dull gold : their shape reminding
one of some lovely cathedral spire, as in their stately
height they mount towards heaven. We saw some
of these giants lying on the ground, and estimated
them all to be more than 200 feet high, the highest
probably 220.

Here occurred a slight fracas with Plain, and the
man who had not been exasperated beyond endurance
interposed with, "What on earth's the use of licking
that horse ; you don't think you'll teach him any sense,
do you ? "

" Teach him sense, indeed ? No, a steam thrashing-
machine couldn't."

" Then why do you go on doing it ? "

"Well, if you must know, I'm hammering him

f>''

250

On the Tramp.

»-\> ■\-

■>',-r'.ir'

"i % '^l

just for my own satisfaction." And he looked as if
he was.

We had a wonderful camp a mile beyond Sand
Creek, on a little grassy knoll perched above an ex-
panse of flat brown meadows, through which a duck
abounding creek slowly meandered. The outlook
was west, and here B. C. fairly outdid herself in the
sunset. In the centre the n^osL vivid yellow ochrey
tint, which gradually merged through marvellous shades
of green into the blue black of the upper sky. As
the night crept on, the yellow faded, to be replaced
by duller orange, till it once more brightened out into
a rosy pink, which spread and spread with ever-
growing waves of colour until the whole sky glowed,
and across it floated clouds that looked as black as
ink, edged with the most vivid blood-red crimson.

Close to this halting-place we began to look for a
trail which turns to the east and leads to a bridge
over the next big river, Elk. The main trail goes
straight on and crosses by a ford near its mouth.
We were lucky enough to find this junction without
difficulty, and for many miles walked through a
glorious country of open forests with patches of
underwood here and there, but for the most part as
clear and well-grassed as an English park. The eye
never wearied of these aisles and cloisters of nature's
building, varied every now and then by the placid
surface of a rushy lake, on whose bosom numbers of
coots, pochards, and grebes were amusing themselves,
while the soft shores bore witness to the nightly
visits of deer in plenty.

One more strcarri. Rock Creek, was passed, in which
all the horses had narrow escapes from foundering,

On the Tramp.

251

: looked as if

and after leaving it the trail kept rising pretty evenly,
crossed a high bare bluff which could never have had
any water on it except rain, and yet for some un-
explained reason bore the greenest grass and wild
flax we had seen in the country, and at last we stood
on a bleak plateau. The roar of Elk River came
faintly up from the canyon below us, and not a trace
was left of the path we had followed so long.

We separated and hunted for it, and at last a shout
from the Skipper brought us all to a precipitous corner
of the hill, where just in the last place we should
have expected to find it our perfidious track was
again seen. It astonished us, after being actually in
sight of Elk, to have to go so far as that trail led us,
but we noticed that it kept bearing to the left until
wc had almost described a circle, and after three miles
we pulled up within two hundred yards of where wc
liad been a good hour before. The extraordinary
thing about this is that there is no obstacle or in-
dication that there ever has been one, and the present
state of things is much as though one walked all
round a Q in order to get to the end of the tail.
" Thus," as the Skipper mused, " are the wisest (/>.,
we) sometimes fooled."

What the circular trail was ever made for is a
mystery, and will remain so as far as we are concerned.
We were satisfied to be here at last, a quarter of a mile
above the bridge, on the north bank of Elk River,
while below us the torrent thundered its impetuous
way between the huge boulders and walls of rock
which checked and kept within bounds its wild dark
waters.

Elk is by far the largest and in every way the

2S2

On the Tramp.

m
W

most interesting of the many streams we have passed.
Just where we were camped and for several miles below
it plunges down a succession of ledges and falls that
look as if they had been quarried and blasted out of
the solid rock, so straight and sheer and clean cut
are the sides of its channel. Up above it widens out
into a comparatively peaceful stream, quite navigable
for canoes, and holding out attractions of all kinds to
the hunter and traveller.

The great glory of B. C, more even than in its
forests, is in the number and beauty of its rivers and
springs. We have suffered many miseries of one
kind or another, but never the crowning one of want
of water. We wonder if it ever occurs to any of
those overbearing fanatics, the self-styled "temper-
ance " (!) advocates at home, that the chief reason
why whisky and beer are so much more popular as
beverages than water is because they are so much
nicer to drink. If Elk River could be turned loose in
Hyde Park, we would guarantee it should reduce the
drink bill more in a week than all their pet nostrums
of plunder and tyranny will if ever they are given a
trial. It is simply a matter of human likes and dis-
likes. The public drink bec" because it tastes better
than water ; and this not because the beer is very
good, for it usually isn't, but because the water is
very bad.

Take one of us as an instance (modesty conceals his
name) ; he drinks out here nothing except water, and
very little else at home in the country. But for about
seven years of Oxford and London life he never
touched it, simply because in those places the flat,
cloudy, tepid mixture facetiously called water is about

071 the Tramp.

25,

as much like the real thing as a bottle of corked
gooseberry is like champagne.

We have not the smallest hope that anything said
by such unregenerate persons as we are will have
the smallest eflfect on a man who imagines total
abstinence to be a virtue, but it relieves our minds to
say it. And if after this we ever see a teetotaller
spending money to give his fellow-creatures pure cold
water instead of subscribing to societies for depriving
them by force of their beer, we shall feel we have not
lived in vain.

^^1

( 254 )

CHAPTER XXIII.

ELK RIVER.

4«*^

We stopped at this Elk River Camp several days,
hunting, fishing, and generally enjoying ourselves.
One morning we came on the tracks of an exceeding
great and savage grizzly, so great that Jim announced
" as the father of a family he didn't feel justified in
going after such a bear as that," Cardie said "he
didn't want any of it in his, he hadn't any use for
grizzlies, and what's the matter with going in the
opposite direction." So the Skipper alone went in
pursuit ; and when the sun went down, and dark
night came on, and still he had not returned, wc
became confident that he must have been unlucky
enough to overtake that bear. But we kept a good
fire going, and about nine o'clock he struggled
back to camp, very tired of course, but having
managed to keep out of the way of his quarry
all day.

There were many of these creatures near here ;
the woods down by the river being full of the
tracks made by the black ones, and the mountains,
especially on the high ridges just below the actual
peaks, showing quite as many indications of the
presence of grizzlies in the holes and upturned stones
which seem to occup}' most of their time. Without

lilk River

255

several days,
ing ourselves.
f an exceeding
Jim announced
2el justified in
ardie said "he
I't any use for
I going in the
alone went in
iwn, and dark
returned, wc
been unlucky
kept a good
he struggled
but having
f his quarry

dogs it is almost hopeless to go alter the black bears,
as they are very shy and keen of scent, and being
of course much better able to get about through the
brush than a man, they will not tree for him. Dogs,
however, make them climb directly, and thus give
the hunter every chance. Once Jim was quite close
to one which he could hear very busily breaking
the bushes, but he could not get a sight of it, not
being liquid enough to get through the sieve-like
forest with suflicient speed.

We had to contend with the same difficulty as
regards the deer; and speaking broadly, the early
autumn is not the best time for white men to hunt
unassisted by dogs or Indians who know the " licks "
and other likely places.

At Elk River we first saw a new and supremely
efttctive instrument for the torture of the hunter,
which may br called a " phccnix forest." This
consists of the first growth of young larches coming
up after an ancient grove has been destroyed by fire,
and it is probably the very worst of all the varied
iniquities we have met with. The young trees,
about the size and thickness of a coach whip, grow
as close together as the stalks in a field of corn.
All among their legs are scattered the bodies of
thpir defunct and prostrate parents. The latter you
cannot see, so dense is the youthful crowd, but you
feel them very acutely across your shins. The
loose yellow needles drop into your mouth, eyes,
and pockets, and down your back, and into your
boots, and oh dear! what a misery it all is. You
[are fr.in at the twentieth tumble in five yards to
lie down and cry in helpless despair. It took over

256

Elk River.

i\i

an hour to get through a tract of this sort which
we guessed to be only a quarter of a mile in
length.

One morning an Indian came galloping up on a
good-looking horse, and producing a letter, gave us
to understand by signs that he did not know the way
to where it was addressed.

We have not mentioned hitherto that none of the
Indians we have met speak any English, though
we have suspected several of understanding it ; but
they are wonderful at making their ideas intel-
ligible by signs, an art which is little known or
appreciated by Europeans, but very interesting when
reduced to a science, as it seems to be among the
redskins.

We knew the man for whom the letter was in-
tended, and that he was at a place about forty miles
away, but of course as regards tne road thither
our minds were as blank as the messenger's own.
But did that deter us ? no for a moment. We
have not been three months in this country without
learning that absolute ignorance on any subject is
no reason for not imparting the widest information
on it to any inquirer. So with the utmost confidence
we instructed that Indian in the way he should go,
and ever after lived in daily dread that he would
return with a wild tribe of painted warriors, and
with war-whoops and tomahawks scalp us for having
made a fool of him. However, we sent him through
such an awful country that we thought there was
really little chance of his arriving anywhere, and
almost none of getting back again, and this reflection
mitigated our fears considerably. It sounds rather

Elk River.

2o/

absurd that three white men, absolute strangers to
the wliole country, should be applied to for local
information by one of its natives, but it may serve
t(j show how extremely small and incomplete is any
knowledge of these wild untrodden tracts, and how
great are still the opportunities for any enterprising
young fellow to find for himself a desirable spot for
settlement.

The result of all our hard work and the healthy
open-air existence we have so long enjoyed is that
we are all in the height of hcallh and spirits, and the
robustness of our appetite is amazing, though as we
are all in the same boat we do not comment on it in
the manner which would be natural to u£ in England.
The promptitude with which at any hour of the day
we respond to the cook's cry of ** Now all you
primeolifers, food's ready ! " would, we are sure,
gratify those of our relatives who at home are always
finding fault with us fur being late for dinner. Jim
was by way of being an invalid when he came out,
and stated that he was dieting himself with great
strictness under a set of rules laid down by his
medical adviser. For a long time we vainly en-
deavoured to detect from his behaviour what those
rules might be, but we have at last discovered them —
" Eat whatever you fancy, it is the only safe guide ;
drink whatever you like, so long as it is the best.
Do both every time you get the chance." This
seems to be the long sought for Guide to Health,
and its very simplicity ought, we think, to commend
it to a simple public.

The old tables of weights and measures have
become to some extent obsolete under our present

258

lilk River.

II iii

conditions of life, ami we appLiul below the altered
scale that \vc find more in accordance with facts.

A sip = one breakfast cup and a half.

A morsel more = two platcsful.

Well, just the tiniest taste = \ lb.

A mouthful = six cubic inches.

Twenty yards (after dinner) = one mile.

A ton = what I have to carry.

A trifle =- what those other fellows bring along.

'I'he fish that got away = i stone.

The one that was landed = \ lb.

We were a little late here for the best fishing, the
big fish having begun to go up into the high ground
for spawning, but we had no difficulty in catching ail
we wanted. '

This, however, was no light matter in the absence
of mucli other food. We kept a careful account of
the consumption of trout and charr during the five
days we stayed here, and found that in that time wc
disposed of just 51 lbs. (weighed before cleaning).
We made it a rule not to waste any, and, of course,
tried to catch the small trout in preference to the
larger.

Considered as sport the fishing here was a failure,
for angling even for three-pounders ceases to be
exciting when you have only to throw a fly into the
water anyhow in order to secure a fish. It was sc
demoralising that at last we would not land a trou;
hooked on the dropper until one had taken the tai
fly, and very interesting it was to see them in thi:
clear water swimming about after the fly as it draggeiMit
behind the already captured victim, and often takin^-jt

s
c
r
c
nl
a

Elk River.

259

f the altered
ith facts.

ile.

•ing along.

icst fishing, the
he high grouiul
J in catching all I

• in the absence |
■cful account oil
icluring the five
in that time we
Ictbre cleaning).

and, of course,!

ifercnce to the

f-e was a failure,!

ceases to bel

[v a fly into the!

]sh. It was scl

\ot land a trouj

taken the taij

pe them in thi='

ly as it dragged

id often takin?

it and rejecting it several times before getting actually
h(»oked. One rod in an iiour and live minutes caught
in about lOO yards of river 20^ lbs., which weight
iinght probably have been doubled b}' using larger
fliiis and casting in the places suitable for larger fish.
How circumstances alter cases (this observation
copyrighted). In the old country one would dream
of such an impossible catch for the rest of one's life.
Here the only connnent was, " Now, then, where are
those fish ? What a time you've becii. What ! do
you mean to say these arc the smallest you could
get? W^ell, you'll have to have th'^ni fidded ; it's
your own fault."

On F'k River the American Dipp*"r .vas very
numerous, in plumage more sombre than his European
Uothcr, whose white shirt-front is dccidcdiy prettier,
but his note and behaviour carrying one's recollections
[back to many an English stream.

Just above the place where the trail makes a
Isiidden plunge down to the bridge is a little con-
trivance used as a sort of Turkish bath by the
Indians in case of sickness. This consists of a
[circular dome-shaped cage of bent willow wands,
[tied together wherever they come in contact with
?ach other. When in use a small pool of water
[s made in the centre, and the whole cage having
)ecn covered in with mats or skins, the patient
:rccps in, and a friend keeps him supplied with
lot stones from a fire outside. These being dropped
[nto the water no doubt make a very cflfective vapour
)atli. We have passed many of these sweat-houses
|it various places, no large camping- g,3und being
rithout one or more of them.

fVf

260

Elk River.

- t*

!r' ■'''

Elk Bridge itself is a very line piece of work, when
wo consider the enormous difficulties of carrying out
any kind of engineering in a remote wilderness like
this, and the fact that all the operations had to be
conducted from one side only. The span is about
sixty-five feet, and we guess it to be a little more
than that above the seething abyss of dark whirl-
pools and headlong cataracts squeezed into the
narrow gorge below. There is not a particle of
iron used in its construction, but the strength of
the fabric is undeniable, and has recently been proved
in a rather sensational manner.

A white man and Indian were driving a herd of
cattle along the trail, and at the bridge the animals
not unnaturally became "balky" and refused to
cross. At last the drover lost patience and deter-
mined to take one over by force, hoping the rest
would then follow. So he roped a young bull, and
riding his horse on to the bridge, attempted to drag
it after him. The bull, seized with panic, rushed
at the protecting rail and leaped over, and the rope
did not break. Before the rider had time t^ dismount
or even to think, the horse was dragged by the
weight of the hanging beast up against the railing,
and for a moment held there. In that moment
the Indian leaped forward and with a blow of his
knife severed the lariat, and man and horse were
safe, while the battered corpse of the unfortunate
bull was whirled away down the dark river never to|
be seen again.

From the southern end of the bridge the trail rises]
up the steep mountain side by a series of zigzags
scratched into the face of the crumbling shingiyl

f work, when

carrying out

ilderness like

ns had to be

ipan is about

a little more

f dark whirl-

jed into the

a particle of

e strength of

[y been proved

ing a herd of
;e the animals
id refused to
ice and deter-
ping the rest
ung bull, and
impted to drag
panic, rushed
;, and the rope
e t^ dismount
igged by the
1st the railing,
that moment I
blow of his I
Id horse were
e unfortunate!
I river never to

the trail rises]
(es of zigzags
Ibling shinglyl

Elk Brid^je.

Ss'>i

i. . !

r i

■n

a
fi
ir

Elk Rivet.

261

soil, so narrow and slippery for this length that
one false step would send the unwary traveller in
broken pieces on to the smooth flat terrace of rock
at the foot. But as Phillipps, who engineered this
bridge and path, pointed out to us, in that case
the " truck " would be recovered, whereas if he went
into the river there would be nothing left to pay
legacy duties on, though to be sure the funeral
expenses would be nil. We could not but admire
the forethought which had thus provided for every
contingency.

Our menus at this camp were, as usual in settled
quarters, rather elaborate. We give that for 1 6th
October.

Soup.
Fried charr.

Fish.
P'ried trout.

Entrees.

Jugged snowshoe and squirrel ; curried grouse, pheasant,
or partridge, &c. (No room for full title.)

Legumes.

Crusoe's island bread ; potatoes ; onions ; strawberry
jam ; coffee.

The Snowshoe is an animal perhaps unknown to
some of our readers. He is the largest kind of
alpine hare, with the most lovel}' bluish white fluffy
fur, and lives on the snowy slopes at the tops of the
mountains.

We measured the hind foot of quite a young one.

262

Elk River,

ik.

% !

'ik

I a

and found it to be five inches from side to side —
that is, from the point of toe No. i to that of No. 4
when spread out, or in other words it would exactly
cover the back of this book, each toe being about
two inches long. He seems to be of an amiable
and confiding disposition, and sits at a short distance
to be shot at with all the complacency in life.

The bread a la Crusoe was not materially different
from the ordinary st:.ff of life, but received this name
because Cardie, baking one evening in the dark,
managed to tread, on most of the loaves, and con-
sequently they were impressed with the footprint
of a savage — not of course the whole of the foot,
because the frying-pan being only eighteen inches
in diameter, our loaves are limited to that size, but
still enough for purposes of recognition.

The onions had been a most welcome present
from Mrs. Clark, and being our only vegetables
available for soup, we were very niggardly with them.
They were seldom used except for that purpose, or
for that merest scrap which placed inside a grouse
so much improves his flavour. (This remark, by
the way, applies equally to the red grouse, a thing
not universally known.) Moreover the Skipper ob-
jected to their use as a vegetable, because, as he
said, " there's such a lot of arriere pensee about
an onion."

Cardie, having more leisure in this settled abode
than usual, has been making a grand inspection of
his clothes, and is now rehabilitated in garments
which compared with his former ones may be called
lovely. He has the blue trousers of the country,
which cost six shillings a pair, and make the un-

Elk River.

263

fortunate wearer colder than being without, as they
keep off nothing except sunshine. It is obvious to
the most careless observer at a distance of many
feet that his number is 34.32, for these mysterious
figures are conspicuously placarded on the waist-
band ; but whether they refer to the different lengths
of the two legs, or the probable age of the wearer,
or the number of days he may expect them to last,
we are unable to say. The great advantage of these
blue pantaloons, in addition to their surpassing
beauty, is that they fall to pieces as soon as you get
tired of them — or a little before. That, however,
does not prevent either Cardie or the Skipper from
wearing them long afterwards, for they are quite as
warm when in rags as in their perfect state, and
appearance goes for nothing. Cardie's attire is
continued b}' an old blue flannel shirt, not tucked
into the trousers in the manner which we understand
to be usual in England, but hanging outside like
the garb of an ancient Greek, and secured round
the waist by a piece of rope. When the Skipper
expressed doubts as to the utility of this rope, he
explained it by saying, " Well, you see, it's so draughty
in this tent that I must wear something to protect
my liver." He seldom wears any hat, though he
generally carries one tucked into his waist-rope for
the purpose of fanning the fire when required. And
his costume is completed by a huge pair of boots
which not only really ivere made by himself, but look
every inch of it.

We had received an enormous mail at Cran brook,
including a lot of newspapers about a month old,
and we keep steadily working through these when-

■f

264

Elk River.

1 i

'^\<, i

ii f

ever we have any time. This seldom happens, as
the man who stays in camp has his hands pretty
full of baking, washing, and cooking all day, and the
others do not get back till night. After dark reading
is a delusion and a snare, even the best camp fire
giving a miserable, unsteady light ; and though we
have candles, it is too cold to sit in the little tent,
and too draughty under the waggon-sheet, which is
pitched in front of the fire.

Cardie enlarges on the interesting topics gleaned
from these papers in a somewhat bewildering and
inconsequent manner. For instance, one day the
burning of the City of Montreal led to a discussion
on the horrors of a fire at sea, which lasted till we
went to sleep. In the morning he as usual got up
first to light the fire, which having done, he returned
to the waggon-sheet and said, " Yes, undoubtedly a
theatre is the worst place." We had thrown every
throwable article at him before we realised that he
was continuing last night's debate, and a feud had
been established.

This day Cardie took Spot as a saddle horse, and
went out exploring with a view to future operations.
He got a snap-shot at a mule-deer a few miles from
camp, but missed it owing to the thick timber.

The Skipper climbed up a mountain lying to the
east of the camp, whence, among other things, he
looked down on the most lovely blue lake lying in a
cleft on the opposite mountain, without visible inlet or
outlet, like a lost turquoise, a lake which he after-
wards climbed to and fished, but fruitlessly. He
found in the new snow many tracks of sheep, and
also those of a good grizzly. After pursuing all day

Elk River.

26^

he was obliged to stop at last in a terribly precipitous
country, where for a long time lie was shut in at the
bottom of a rocky gorge, out of which he only suc-
ceeded in finding a way just at sunset. Strictly
speaking, a man ought not to go out in this wild
country by himself, for in spite of all precautions
an accident may happen, and a broken leg or even
a badly sprained ankle is practically as fatal and a
good deal more painful than a broken neck ; at least
we imagine so : we have never tried the latter. How-
ever, we have so little time for hunting that we do
not like to waste any of it by going in couples, so
our plan is to take separate beats, giving the man
in camp as good an idea of the proposed direction
as possible.

( 266 )

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE SOUTH FORK.

From Cardie's report of the land lying to the south of
the river, we were all anxious to spei a few days in
that direction. We packed the horsti: and were just
on the point of departure, when the weather began to
look so extra threatening that we simply dare not go.
So the tents were again pitched and we waited for
the morrow, very thankful that we had done so when
the cold dark clouds which had shrouded everything
in gloom burst upon us in a furious sleet storm.
When next morning we really did start, the sun was
shining, and everything looked gay and cheerful.

Jim had with great difficulty been dissuaded from
shooting at a lot of widgeon which he found in a pool
up the river ; it would have been useless in that place
to have slaughtered the whole flock, as the slain must
almost certainly have been carried away down the
stream. This morning he spotted a large flight of
green- winged teal just below the camp, and by careful
stalking got into such a position that he managed to
secure two^ though three others, alas, were hurried
over the falls and lost to us for ever.

Picture the despair of the hapless hunter who has
shot three of the most lovely fat teal ever seen as he

The South Fork,

267

the south of
I few days in
md were just
ther began to
dare not go.
ve waited for
one so when
|d everything
sleet storm,
the sun was
hcerful.
suaded from
nd in a pool
in that place
e slain must
|y down the
■ge flight of
|d by careful
managed to
ere hurried

Iter who has
seen as he

watches them swinging slowly round and round in a
torpid whirlpool for about a quarter of an hour, while
he vainly throws several cart-loads of stones intended
to make waves beyond them. It is curious, by the
way, to note the tendency of such stones to fall on
the wrong side of the cbjcct of solicitude. Then just
when victory and teal soup are within his grasp,
those beloved birds, on which his best cartridges and
trouser- knees have been expended, drift within the
seductive influence of the omnivorous torrent, and in
a moment that teal soup, diluted by the whole volume
of Elk River, has disappeared down a roaring cataract
and is swallowed up. It was a sight to make strong
men shudder and women teal — quail, we mean ; but
we bore it nobly, though who shall say what silent
agonies our manly mien concealed in this the trying
moment of our lives. {N.B, — We should like some
good pious relations to see — and hear — the Skipper's
notion of silent agony.)

Let it pass, 'tis but a memor}-^, and we will resume
the journey to the South Fork of Elk River. This
is a river running into Elk from the south at right
angles to it, about six miles below the bridge : we
were proposing to follow it up to some handsome
mountains visible a few miles nearer its source.

We crossed the bridge and made the ascent of the
zigzag path without mishap, finding at the top a trail
to the left which leads eastward into the Crow's-nest
Pass of the Rockies, and one to the right which goes
west and south down the Kootenay, crossing the
South Fork close to its junction with Elk.

This is a very fine bit of country. We were up
high on the hillside for a long way, and then had a

I-

I 1

I-

l! f^

268

77/t' South Fork.

^i' ■■iil

iki-Er

swift descent to a flattish terrace above the turbulent
waters of Elk, figliting their impatient way along the
bottom of the ravine far below. At last we came
to a "jumping off" place, and here the trail turned
sharply down to the right towards the ford. This,
however, was not our proposed route at present. We
unpacked and carefully " cached " the greater part of
our goods in a dense thicket. Jim began to say
that a bank was the right place to " cache " anything
in, but we checked him. Then, with stuff sufficient
for a few days, we turned to the left along a faint
old-time trail, climbed up a steep hill, and were soon
on a high table-land with our faces set towards the
valley of the South Fork.

That night we found ourselves down in a beautiful
camp close to the swift-flowing merry little river, so
much more inviting in appearance than its savage
self-willed big brother. A huge pile of terraces
sheltered us from the cold wind, and above them
towered a stupendous giant of a mountain. Across
the river was a glorious range, not quite so lofty or
precipitous, but very beautiful, with the dark green of
its fir-clad slopes set off by golden tamaracks dotted
here and there among the evergreens, and half way
up a broad yellow band of the same trees looking as
if they had been placed there by design, as a royal
belt for their monarch.

What fish that river held ! very different from the
lazy monsters of Elk ; these were bright as silver,
game to the last, and in perfect condition. There was
only one drawback, which was that after one had
fished three or four pools there was nothing for it but
to go home, for even our powers of assimilating fish-

The South Fork.

269

le turbulent
\y along the
St we came
trail turned
ford. This,
resent. We
eater part of
cgan to say
le " anything
;uff sufficient
along a faint
id were soon
t towards the

in a beautiful

little river, so

w\ its savage

; of terraces

above them

ain. Across

e so lofty or

ark green of

racks dotted

nd half way

s looking as

as a royal

mt from the

[ht as silver,

There was

fter one had

jing for it but

lilating fish-

food have their limits, in spite of its brain-producing
qualities.

And what noble fires we had ! this being the first
place where wc struck red cedar, the best wood of all
for burning, unless we except pifion, which is as
good, and in some respects better. On the whole
we should say a combination of the two is the acme
of perfection in fire-building ; the pinon (pronounced

The South Fork of Elk A'ivcr. j

pinyon) giving the perpetual cheery blaze, and the
cedar the crisp crackling glow and warmth and
delicious scent.

Round such a fire under tlie mighty pines wc
sat at night, with the pleasant ripple of the water
sounding in our ears, and the breeze gently rustling
in the dark branches above us, as happy as men
ever can be, hardly caring even for what weather the
morrow might bring forth.

270

The South Fork,

Our poor horses wc fear did not think so highly of
the South Fork as their masters ; and in the morning
Cardie, who had appointed iiimself Equerry-in-Chief,
came down from the cold, scantily grassed plateau on
which they were left with the news that the roan
had " skipped out " and must be followed. He there-
fore went in pursuit, while the Skipper and Jim toiled
up that very large and steep mountain which over-
hung the camp. When at nightfall they wearily
trudged back into camp, having had adventures
enough of the precipice and neck- breaking class to
satisfy any one, but without seeing any signs of life,
things did not look so rose-tinted as the previous
evening's cedar fire had made them. Snow was by
that time falling heavily on the tops of the mountains,
making the effect of the moonlit summits wonder-
fully lovely from the artistic point of view, but not
encouraging to the scantily provisioned hunter.

The Skipper's most thrilling anecdote only amounted
to this : that eight blue grouse had suddenly darted
out of one small bush with such stir and confusion
that for a brief space he imagined the top of the
mountain to have split asunder and a geyser to have
burst forth. Jim romanced greatly upon a fearful
watercourse which he had followed down the mountain,
coming in one place to a drop of twenty feet or so,
down which he prepared to descend by the aid of a dead
fir-tree which leaned from below into the face of the
cliff. Just before committing himself to it he thought
it his duty — noble disinterested fellow — to his wife
to test its strength, so dropped a lump of rock on to
its middle. The deceitful fir at once collapsed, which
he took as an omen, and gave up any attempt to get

The South Fork,

271

down. Making a slow and difficult detour, he found
that all further progress down the watercourse was
barred a little lower by an absolutcb' impassable
precipice, so that even if he had survived the fall
from the tree he could neither have got back again
nor out of the ravine by any other means.

The moral of which is tiiat careful attention should
be paid to omens ; and that if a ladder breaks by its
own weight it is an omen that it will not bear yours.
We learn also that all good husbands should take the
greatest care of themselves, and live on the best of
everything, and enjoy themselves as much as possible,
for the sake of their wives.

The next day was one that to the merest child
would have portended a bad change in tlie weather ;
the snow continued to fall, and though not in sufficient
weight to spoil the fishing, made all ascent of the
mou tains impossible. Added to this, the non-success
of our hunting had hastened the disappearance of the
stores in a very unpleasant degree, and a Cabinet
Council decided the following important points : —

1st. That we had food (without counting what we
might kill) for three days only.

2nd. That as we did not know anything about
the trail to Tobacco Plains (except that it was the
most difficult and dangerous one in the country), we
should be in a tight place if it snowed,

3rd. That if was going to snow like the very
everything.

4th. That we had better skip out first thing in the
morning — t/ zue could.

When at sunset the mountain side was illuminated
with a most uncanny theatrical-looking green glare,

^^^-^

272

The South Fork.

we were prepared for something very dire in the
shape of weather. The horses also seemed unhappy
and were not eating, so we brought them down
into the timber, and made everything ready for an
early start. -

It was still snowing fitfully when long before day-
light we packed and climbed up on to the terraces,

The h'oad {\)froin the South Fori'

t'M

and the night had been so bitterly cold that we were
fortunately able to fill one of our largest cans with
solidly frozen fids of cleaned trout. As we gained
the higher ground a most bitter south-east wind
was blowing, driving the hard dust}' s.irw in sharp
particles against our faces and into every part of our
clothing, but luckily not allowing it to lie sufficiently
to obscure the trail. Up above the air was one haze

J dire in the

nied unhappy

them down

ready for an

g before day-
the terraces,

hat we were
jst cans with
s we gained
th-east wind
;r.w in sharp
^ part of our
s sufficiently
vas one haze

The South Fork.

of whirling dimness, and the mountains and forest
were already thickly powdered with white.

This plateau boasts one of the most extraordinary
bits of road (?) we have fallen in with — or down on.
The forest, which there may be described as light
telegraph pole size, has been burnt and then blown
down across the trail, and as all the trees are raised
a foot or two from the ground, it makes progress
very irksome, especially for the horses. Twice we
counted the number of poles acrc^ss the path in a
distance of twenty yards, and in each case there were
just thirty-three.

The horses are wonderfully clever in stepping over
these obstructions : they do not hesitate at anything
not high enough to touch the girths, dragging
their hind legs over quite placidly ; at a higher
obstacle they stop and throw themselves over by a
double-action jump, in which the hind-feet only
leave the ground when the fore-feet touch it on the
other side.

We found our " cache " untouched, and with as
little delay as possible hurried down the steep and
sharply twisting path to the ford. The place for
entering the water was obvious enough, but the exit
on the other side was by no means so apparent : all
\vc could do was to trust in Spot and commit our-
selves to the deep. The Skipper had no scruples
about breaking the horse's back on this occasion.
Perched behind the pack he led the way across, and
with many lurches and flounderings we happily came
out safe on the other side. Down in the valley
there was hardly any snow ; if there had been more
this history might have ended here, for we had gi^cat

•Mil

M If'

274

The South Fork.

difficulty in finding the continuation of the trail, and
none of the horses assisted us in the least.

We should of course have corked up the story
of our adventures up to this point in an Eno's Salt
bottle, and posted it in Elk River in the manner
authorised by all desert island literature ; but we
feel sure no reader could have taken pleasure in it,
had he known that the writers having successively
eaten Spot, Plain, that Roan, and each other, were
now lying under a full-grown avalanche at the mouth
of the South Fork.

When at last the path was found, we went forward
at speed, stopping only for a few minutes to finisli
the last tin of jam. Soon the track once more began
to ascend, and brought us to a flat ledge several
hundred feet above Elk River, along which we went
westward for a mile, grumbling according to our
habit at the prodigious lies we had heard as to the
dangers of this guileless pathway.

Suddenly, however, it turned straigiit at the
mountain-side, and began to climb it by a series of
the very steepest and most slippery zigzags. All
the horses refused to face the difficulty, and for a
few minutes we and they had what the newspapers
would call an

Animafed Debate.

' Extraordinary Scenes.

Suspension of Mr. Plain (by a lariat).
Arrest of the O'Roan (on the edge of a precipice:

The South Fork.

275

The final result being the tearing of some huge holes
in the mantles, and the application of the closure by
an enormous majority of thick sticks.

During the next three hours we enjoyed sufficient
tlirills to satisfy the most fastidious sensation-monger.
At every bend there was trouble in turning the
liorses, who, poor things, were so nervous that they
really dare not alter their course. Sometimes to
look downwards at the places we had come across
was even more trying than the actual transit. The
old roan was peculiarly aggravating, for instead of
walking round a bend, he would always try to
change the direction of his progress by twisting his
hind-legs off the track, a device which on a dozen
occasions nearly sent him headlong into Elk, tearing
along so far below as to be unheard and ahnost
unseen.

Many times we had to stop while Cardie and Jim
with the axes chopped a way through some tree
which lay too high to be stepped over, or cut down
one of those which, standing above the trail, projected
far enough to catch the pack and endanger the horses'
foothold on the narrow ledge. Once we were delayed
for a long time while all hands worked to dislodge
a huge rock, which, slipping, had blocked the path ;
and at last sent it leaping madly down the precipitous
incline. And ever as we worked our way slowly
upwards the snow fell faster and faster, and the path
grew more slippery and difficult to see.

At last the steep ascent accomplished, we stood
on the shoulder of the mountain, once more on
comparatively flat ground, but at such a height that
we were quite in the mists of driving snow, and

urn

I '

"1 '

il ■

276

T/ie SotUJi Fork.

exposed to a wind which seemed to go through and
through us, now that we were for the first time facing
it. The trail along the top was quite hidden, but we
were enabled to keep on it by the blazes which along
this length were cut on the trees. We saw that at
some recent date the path, which used to creep round
the shoulder at a lower level, had been carried away
by a land-slide, and the present one being newly
made over the top had necessitated this clear marking,
which, as there was none elsewhere, seemed specially
to favour us.

We hurried on, men, horses, and packs alike thickly
covered with the same white powder, which penetrated
and clung to everything around us, making the arched
branches a sight that, even in that remarkably un-
pleasant time, we could not fail to wonder at and
admire. But it was with a feeling of relief that we
once more came to a downward grade in the path,
and the bleak wind-swept ridge as we descended
began to keep off to some extent the bitter cold of
the storm. Down we went by a track which at other
times would have seemed one to be treated cautiously,
but in our present frame of mind, and by comparison
with the ascent on the other side, was hastily tumbled
down with the scan test of ceremony. Soon w^e were
out of the snow again, only enough falling on the
low ground to give a kind of frosted appearance to
everything without obscuring the path ; and about
three o'clock we reached an old Indian camp under |
the shelter of some great tamaracks, whose yellow I
spines under the fury of the tempest strewed thcj
ground with cloth of gold.

Experience warned us never to pass an Indian I

The South Fork.

277

hrough and

time facing

.den, but we

which along

saw that at

creep round

:arried away

being newly

lear marking,

lied specially

5 alike thickly
\z\\ penetrated
ng the arched
imarkably un-
^onder at and
relief that we
in the path,
Are descended
bitter cold of
,vhich at other
ted cautiously,
ly comparison
astily tumbled
Soon we were
[falling on the
appearance to
; and about
li camp under
whose yellow
strewed the I

iss an Indian

camp in the afternoon, for it is certain to be in the
best situation within a few miles ; so as quickly as
possible we pitched the tent, lighted a big fire, and
prepared supper. The cold by this time was intense.
What it really was wc cannot say : a tiny thermometer
on the back of the aneroid only marked seventeen
degrees of frost, but the wind seemed to chill the
very marrow in our bones. The mop which we use
for rinsing the crockery (or to speak more correctly,
the enamellery), and which always hangs on the X,*
was frozen stiff at about two feet from a roaring fire ;
while the fish, butter, and worst of all the bread, were
most untractable from the same cause.

The very coffee in our cups froze before we had
drunk more than half of it. [This is a fact ; but
possibly some caviller may be found to dispute it,
and to ask why if we drank the first half before it
froze, we did not drink the other half as well. To
such we reply that it was too hot wlien first poured
out.]

The wind, instead of dropping, seemed to get
stronger and more piercing as the night came on.
We put the tent over the waggon-sheet, and then
cutting down several fir-trees, witli their branches
made a " brush corral " all round the windward side
of the camp, blocking up our doorway with a dense
mass of the same cover. Protected in this way from
the worst cold, and with every stitch of clothing
on, we passed the niglit much more happily than
in the morning had seemed likely. We were drcad-

* /.^., tlie two sticks which placed in tliat foini support the pole on
which the kettle hanus.

278

The South Foi'h.

fully sorry for the jwor horses, for whom we had
had no time to make any shelter; but they seemed
to have found something of the sort for them-
selves, and were all right, but very hungry, in the
morning.

( 279 )

i^hom we had

they seemed

)rt for them-

lungry, in the

CHAPTER XXV.

BREAD AND HONEY.

The brook from which we drew our water here is
one of those dekisive streams in which if a man trusts
for guidance he will "get left." It runs about lOO
yards from the camp in a little hollow in which
flourishes a dense growth of willows. Jim went with
the gun along this belt to try for a grouse ; and
making a half circle in the wood, turned, as he
thought, to strike the watercourse at right angles,
and follow it back to camp. After a time he began
to feel sure from the distance walked and the slope
of the ground that something was wrong, and know-
ing the true direction of the camp turned towards
it, and after a short time came to the brook — which
he had never crossed — on the side opposite to his
starting-place. This seemed so extraordinary that he
followed it downwards and saw that in a couple of
hundred yards it gradually diminished from a big
rapid stream to a tiny trickle, and at last softly and
suddenly vanished away into probably some loose
stratum of gravel. There was no visible gulf for it
to plunge into, and not the slightest trace of damp
ground or moisture-loving plants further along the
hollow.

This capricious climate, which, while we crossed

W''

r,'"-

*',

% -I

\ ?

ill;

III

280

Bread and Honey,

Elk Mountain, was behaving like the " Bounding
Bandit of the Bosphorus," was so gentle the next
morning that a child might have played with it.
The thermometer was still down among the teens,
but the wind had ceased, the snow only lay in a few
shady nooks, and a brilliant sun and cloudless sky
accompanied us on our way to Tobacco Plains.

The trail, though it is one very little used,
was in the absence of snow easily enough distin-
guished, and without any misgivings we pushed along
through a country more beautiful and inviting on
the whole than any we had seen, and in which the
open prairie patches succeeded each other at shorter
intervals.

We passed also this day a grove of tamaracks
which we thought to be considerably larger even than
the giants of Sand Creek. In fact, as some miscreant
remarked, " these larches are the larchest we have
seen." One of them, a veritable King of the Mountains,
had been struck by lightning, and now stood a ruined
monument of former greatness amidst the shivered
fragments of his own branches : the top of the trunk
had been broken off at what we guessed to be 200
feet from the ground, and its diameter there seemed
to be equal to the base of a good English larch.
None of his brethren approached to this one in size,
but all were higher than the broken stem of the
monarch.

In the afternoon we came to the junction of our
trail with the main one along the Kootenay valley, to
which we had once more returned, and soon after-
wards came out of the forest region into big rolling
grass-covered plains, with a few trees scattered

Bread and Honey.

281

" Bounding
lie the next
ycd with it.
ig the teens,
• lay in a few
cloudless sky
Plains.

little used,

nough distin-

pushed along

inviting on

in which the

her at shorter

of tamaracks
rger even than
fome miscreant
hest we have
le Mountains,
tood a ruined
the shivered
) of the trunk
;ed to be 200
there seemed
nglish larch.
|s one in size,
stem of the

iction of our

|nay valley, to

soon after-

10 big rolling

tes scattered

irregularly about them, and occasionally a hollow in
which lay almost concealed from view the rush-
grown waters of a prairie lake. Still no house was
visible — the last inhabited place we had seen being
Skunk Ranch thirteen days ago — and we finally
stopped for the night at one of these lakes, in a
charming sheltered little hollow under a clump of
pines.

It was pretty to sec a large flock of snow-birds

Snow Birds,

which we passed in this part of the trail. They
were playing in the drifts which lay here and there,
much as sparrows play in the dusty road, burrow-
ing in it and throwing it over themselves with the
greatest enjoyment.

A curious feature of the earlier frosts in this
country seems to be their powerlessness over water.
The last three days would in England have given us

282

Bread and Honey.

i:!:'H||

ice four inches tliick, but here only shallow brooks
and ponds seem to freeze at all. This lake, though
not a large one, had a margin a few yards wide all
round it of ice that would bear, but the middle remained
open, though the water in our largest can was turned
out in a solid block a foot thick.

While at supper a solitary chortling was heard
overhead, and down came a goose into our lake, which
made itself comfortable at the other end. At night
when the moon was up, the Skipper and Jim having
nothing better to do, announced that they were going
to shoot that goose ; so after the usual freely ex-
pressed contempt for each other's notions as to how-
it should be done, they agreed on a Plan of Campaign
and set out.

Tt is needless to say that they did not shoot that
goose brave boys, as the wary fowl fled away dis-
creetly at a place which neither of these pundits had
mentioned as a possible means of escape ; but the
Skipper, who was driving, made such a fiendish row-
that the horses stampeded, and the rest of the nigh:
was spent in scampering in pursuit under the moon-
light until the errant beasts were once more safely
tethered.

We had arrived so near to the home of Spot and
Plain that we dare not let them go free on this occa-
sion. On the whole . however, we have had excep-
tionally little tror.blj on this score. Many people go
out hunting on the mountains and hunt hardly any-
thing but horses and trails all the time ; but we have
been luck}' in the roan, who is too ancient to care for
frivolous wanderings, and has only gone off twice;
Spot we have tethered, except in specially good feed

Ih'cad and Honey,

lallovv brooks
, lake, thougli
ards wide all
iddle remained
an was turned

ng was heard
Dur lake, which
nd. At night
lid Jim having
liey were going
sual freely ex-
ions as to how
an of Campaign

not shoot that

fled away dis-

cse pundits had

scape; but the

a fiendish row
3t of the night
nder the moon-

ce more safely

[le of Spot and
ie on this occa-
ive had excep-
[any people go
int hardly any-1
Je ; but we have I
:ient to care for
rone off twice; I
tally good feed

and Plain would not think of leaving his guide and
friend.

Three miles on the following morning brought us
to the brow of a stccpish hill, below which we could
sec a large collection of wooden houses surrounded
bv fields with cattle and horses, while a quarter of a
mile beyond them ran the International Line. In a
few minutes more we were down at Phillipps' ranch,
and receiving a hearty welcome from him and Norhury,
a young Englishman whom we had met up at the
Ferry. The first thing any white man does in this
country is to set before you a meal of the very best
his house contains, and our present host was no
exception to the rule.

That finish^'!, Jim on a horse, and (oh joy !) an
English saddle lent by Phillipps, and with another
horse in tow, went, as he proudly said, " into the
United States " to a store about six miles away.
There we hoped to replace the substance we had
wasted in the more or less riotous living of the
last month.

The others made a day of washing, mending, and
general renovation of themselves and their possessions
— a sort of day reminding one of the Persian feast
mentioned by Herodotus under the name of " lycta,
or, in the Greek, 'perfect,' for then only the king
washes his head with soap."

We have among other treasures two articles which
hang on the X of our kettle-pole. Strictly speaking
they are dish clouts, and pretty poor clouts at that.
That, however, is not the name we give them, neither
are they known as dusters, or even towels. We call
them " napkins," as though they were white and

f% !

284

Bread and Honey.

shining things. One of thciu never was anythin
better than a piece of a cotton bag ; but the othc
really was a proper glass clo^h, and had a beautifi
pattern woven on it in red checks ; this, howevei
has long been merged in a neutral tint of brownisi
hue which neither the feast of Tycta nor anythini
else seems able to remove. Moreover, both thes
napkins, from arduous use and their proximity t
the fire, had become full of holes, for whenever ;
spark alighted on them, fiom extreme dryness aiK
greasiness they immediately caught fire and burn
like an oil-well. In this emergency Cardie wa
appealed to, the Skipper saying as he showed hi;
fingers, between which hung the unclean rags
the serviettes, " These are no longer any use," anc
out of his enormous bag Cardie with much hesita
tion produced two beautiful new napkins. So whoi
he was fast asleep we turned out that sack, whicl
until then we had supposed to contain nothing bu
mit& and mocassins, and found all sorts of thinga
but especially quantities of shirts, all spotlessly clear
but all in rags. Why Cardie never thinks of wcarirj
them we do not know, but imagine it is from tl
difficulty of deciding which are shirts, which papj
collars, and which canvas trousers, for all his garmerl
are so much alike in their raggedness that nothiij
but a memoria technica would do it. Whenever
did change his shirt he always took it off in decinj
fractions, a bit at a time, and these wc used to colk
and put on the camp-fire just before we came awayj

The general blackness and griminess of all
clothes has of course sensibly increased since
coldness of the weather prevented any extenc

«^cTTv*:'

Bread and Honey

28;

. was anything
. but the other
had a beautitul

this, however,
tint of brownish
•ta nor anything:
,^er, both these
eir proximity to

for whenever a
Pme dryness and
,t fire and burnt |
ency Cardie was|

cashing operations. The burnt forests in which we

have so frequently sojourned are very bad for pretty

coloured attire, so much so in fact that one of

the Skipper's chief causes of gratification in his

blue trousers has departed. He used ahvays to be

saying, '' How nic^; it is to wear bags you can

wipe your pen en," but he has had to stop that

practice because the ink makes a mark that looks

like chalk on the all-pervading darkness of his nether

garments, and he is afraid of being taken for a billiard

sharper.

Talking of ink, how curious is the property this

Vi ^howed hisB liquid possesses of being able to run up hills. That

^ 1 ^ Y*ags oiBink rises above its own level may be ascertained

use" andBby a simple experiment. Take a perfectly clean

• Vi uich hesita-Hpen and penholder, and after writing with it for

1 V So wherHa quarter of an hour or less you will find that the

V, sack whicMheight to which the ink has already raised itself out

nothing bu«of the nib is accurately marked on your thumb

of thingsBand seco'^'d finger. If you are a very careful

.1 gjy cleanBivritcr, and slop betv^een the sentences to think,

^ , ■ uc of wearir.Bt will probably reach the level of your mouth and

. • fi'om thBrouser-pockets, and spread over your collar and

..iiu'h oapBie, and any one who smokes while writing will
shirts, w iii*-'^ r '^ ■ ~ ^ . , r .

11 u;c anrmerfind that his pipe is covered with it. The ink-

for all nii5 &"* . If , ., , ,. .

*.unf nothiiiot also contributes several lacts mtcrcsting to

edness vnti*- «'^ w ^^

"Whenever scientific observers. An ink-pot is ahvays empty

°i '•«■ ff in decinwcause it always upsets itself over your best waist-

° sed to colleloat and your latest sketch directly it has been

rime awayPled ; and yet there is ahvays a penful of ink in

■ ^ r>f fill owe of the corners — ink that would be good useful
rimniess 01 ^^'^ ■ »

since tS^'ft were it not for the bits of blotting paper and
all sticks and portions of steel pens from which

inted any

...^i^m

286

Breatt and Honey.

few ink-[" ^ts are free. It io supposed that most
species of ink-po', absorb these articles or else
have the power ci propagating them,' for no human
being is such a'.i idiot as to put them in, and yet
they are always there. There is no fluid so utterly
subversive of Christianity and destructive of all good
resolutions. Who can refrain from profanity ex-
pressed or implied when this devil's cauldron known
as the inkstand tips itself over a letter which has
taken an hour to write ? And again when you arc
filling it up, what more exasperating than to find
that a couple of drops cause it to overflow and
send a saucerful all over your hand and be^*" i.'dble-
cloth ? Without doubt those are happic' *^ .viv use
pencils altogether and never tamper with iuK, and
our advice to the young is to eschew the unholy
compound and not play with it. As surely as
they touch the glittering blackness which lurks
beneath the lid, so surely will they get themselves
or some one else into trouble,

Jim came back from the store with 1 00 lbs. of
flour, three tins of honey, and the cheering in-
telligence that there was nc other food to be had
for love or money : all the bacon in the country
all tbo tea, coffee, and jam was eaten up, and h
storekeeper had gone off to the railway a hundrLJ
miles away to buy more.

Then Phillipps informed us that though the canoes
were all right and on the river a few miles away,
that he strongly advised us not to go in them, for
the river, which here on account of its speed re-
mained unfrozen, would probably be ice-b; nd
eighty miles lower dov/n, where it became a to . ■

"i^

Bread and Honey.

287

stream. If we should chance to find it in that

state when we arrived there we could neither go

down, nor return up, nor get across by fand, as

there was no trail within reach of the river, and

no one living there from whom we could buy horses.

So that there seemed a good prospect of a miserable

end to us and our travels. He urged us to get

back to Galbraith's Ferry, where there certainly

was food, and thence by Cranbrook down the Mooyie

1V== <^o Bonner's Ferry (now m:)re generally known

as Dick Fry's), and so out to a station on the

Northern Pacific Railway.

We were very much averse to this scheme because

of the large amount of old ground it involved, but

there seemed no help for it, for we had not food

enough to go south from here by land, so we finally

agreed to adopt his plan, the more readily because he

himself with Norbury and a pack-train would be

starting for the Ferry in the morniiig.

This important point settled, a pack-train became a

necessity, and here again our host came to the rescue,

and in a few minutes we became the owners of three

, 1 .^^jPhorses at a price which we only refrain from mention-

°° .^,. ;''■'< lest he should be pestered to death by impor-

m the countrx |^ \ ^ \. \

1 u f^v. uate buyers at the same ngure. 1 his was iriendli-

*^^ '' ^.- .lii'/j'jH indeed, for the man who won't do his dearest

U'';i over a horse-deal in the old country is, we fear,

'/ery rare and curious, and is quite certain to have his

*viil disputed.

Only the canoes remained to be dealt with, and

hat difficulty was easily arranged. Phillipps would

c able to obtain them from " the lady " who nov/

ad charge of them, and would take care of them for

i that most
cles or else
or no human
I in, and yet
aid so utterly
ve of all good
profanity ex--
uldron known
ter which has
when you are

than to find

overflow and
tnd be.^ lable-
ppic' > ■ '-^^^

with iiiiv, and
ew the unholy
1 As surely as
which lurks

get themselves

th 100 lbs. of
e cheering in- S

way a

ough the canoes

few miles away^
3 in theiii, for

)f its speed re-
be ice-b>

Ibecame a to' p

11(1

288

Bread and Honey.

■lij

us, so that now we had nothing to do but to go to
bed in the house provided for us, and start on the
return journey in the morning.

With regard to the above-mentioned lady a romance
might be written, had we the space of a three-volume
novel, the impudence of a society journal, and a light-
hearted fearlessness of actions for libel which unfortu-
nately we do not possess. As, however, we did not
have the pleasure of meeting her, we will only say that
we heard she was a little — ^just the merest trifle — in-
clined to be strong-minded ; and if she does not like
. ' we unreservedly withdraw it, and substitute any-
th.,. she does like. And now we hope we are safe
through that. • . ■

Our new pack-train was composed of old Plain
(now called, in honour of his late master, " Tobacco
Plain "), a new Spot (so named because he has a kind
of blister upon his otherwise comely bay hide), and a
Sorrel Nag which we bought chiefly for riding pur-
poses. Our Own of course we still have ; but old
Spot, whose real '^ame we find to be Pappa (Grand-
father), was so dear to his owner on account of his
toothbrush tail, extreme wisdom, and a capacity for
remaining fat on starvation diet, that he would not
part with him.

The journey to the Ferry was not particularlv|
exciting. We camped each night wherever the pack-[
train halted, making twenty-two miles on the longcstj
day, and sixty in three days, leaving about five miicij
for the fourth. Plain tried to drown himself in Kllil
River, no doubt in despair at his approaching sepa
ration from Spot senior. He calmly walked out o
his way into one of the deepest pools in the river

Dread and Ho7iey.

289

) but to go to
\ start on the

lady a romance
a three-volume
lal, and a light-
which unfortu-
ver, we did not
ill only say that
lerest trine— in-
ihe does not like
\ substitute any-
lope we are sak

;ed of old Plain
naster, " Tobacc.

^ise he has a kin^

bay hide), and a

^ for riding pur-

|11 have; but old

,c Pappa (Grand-

,u account of his

|id a capacity for!

[lat he would not

not particularly

Iherever the pack-1

Ics on the longesil

about five mile;l

m himself in B|

ipproaching sepaj

ily walked out oj

)ols in the river |

but being fortunately loaded with the least important
of our packs, no harm was done.

The necessity we are under of walking in long Indian
file leads to some curious results when any conversation
is carried on. We are all too idle and too much occu-
pied to turn round, so any man who has anything to
say simply shouts it straight into the air, leaving his
followers to catch as much as they can. Thus wher

Northern RiU,.,:.

im began in a voice like a fog-horn, •* If we had gone
|o\vn the river we should have skinned our whole
ICC on it," the Skipper interrupted, "You speak in
ich a whisper I can't hear you." Then came, in an
irth-shaking yell, " If we had gone down the river,
[c should have pinned our whole faith on it," &c.
The night we slept about three miles north of
Ik, we were for the first time really badly off for

290

Bread and Honey

food, for our iced fish were finished at Tobacco Plains ;
the bacon gave out two days before ; the dissipated
soup had been dissipated indeed ; we had no grouse
left, and were disagreeably surprised to see none along
the trail, for this spell of frost seemed to have sent
them all into the interior of the forest, and the only
evidence of bird-life was the hoarse cry of the ravens,
which were very numerous hereabouts. A couple of
squirrels was all that we shot in that sixty-five miles ;

1 ">!

Our Supper.

and other meat, except about 2 lbs. of salt pork, we
had none. Our food for the three days consistcc
of bread and honey ; and though we seemed to thrive
on it, we never felt as if we had had anything to eat
all the time.

The intense cold continued until we arrived at thej
Ferry, but every night we had a great treat, whidil
we used to take in turns when the labours of oui
own camp were ended. This was to go across tcj
our friends, who had an Indian lodge for a tent, ani

Bread and Honey,

291

obacco Plains ;
the dissipated
had no grouse
see none along
d to have sent
;, and the only
^ of the ravens,
1, A couple of
ixty-five miles ;

there exchange the cold, draughty, lightless waggon-
sheet which was our own protection for the warm,
bright, comfortable house in which they lived. Very
jolly it was to lie on the rugs, deftl}^ placed all round
the cheerful fire, and watch the smoke ascending, not
only from that, but from our own pipes, through the
dark opening above, while story after story was told

|of salt pork, wel
days consisted!

Iseemed to thrive!
anything to eatl

/e arrived at the!

[•eat treat, whiclj

labours of oul

I to go across tl

for a tent, anf

Co -ok-ok yoA yff/-yfi(vjoi^-J/m^JO/^ !

of hunting, trapping, and the various wild adventures
of life among the Indians. " How I wish that life
was all after dinner," as the Skipper said; "what a
Inice mellow world this would be."

On this journey we rose and breakfasted long
Ibefore daj'break, so as to be packed and ready for
Istarting with the morning light. Our frugal lunch of
jbread and honey was the only meal eaten in the

j^B i

'IHi

i '

292

Bread and Honey.

daytime, for before our camp was put in order and
supper cooked night had again overtaken us. Those
evenings in the lodge will always be remembered by
us with pleasure, no less keen from the contrast witli
the return to the waggon-sheet, where we could only
hurry into bed and get to sleep as soon as the de-
spairing yells of the coyotes and wolves howling at
— or for — the moon would allow us to do so.

The warmth of our habitation is by the way not
increased by the fact that the Skipper refuses to I
block up either end of the canvas, because, forsooth I
his doctor tells him **it is healthy to sleep with the|
window open." .

i
j

( 293 )

in order and
-n us. Those
emembered by
2 contrast with

we could only
)on as the de-
ves howling at
do so.

by the way not
)per refuses to]
cause, forsooth :i
) sleep with the I

CHAPTER XXVI.

BACK AGAIN.

A cL'Rious story was told of a dromedary, which
with several of its brethren was once introduced into
this country by an enterprising packer in the early
rush for gold. This genius having noticed that the
ship of the desert was of a registered tonnage equal
to about four mules, with hardly as much original sin
as one, commenced a very profitable career with his
novel pack-train. Unfortunately his fellow-packers
[conceived a prejudice against his invention, for the
evident reason that if persisted in mules and horses
would become a drug in the market. This prejudice
they demonstrated by shooting at him and his drome-
Idaries whenever they saw them, a course of action
[which speedily resulted in the survival of one, doubt-
less the fittest, which happened to be a dromedary.
This wise beast thereupon took to its heels, and dis-
ippeared in the forest, and the packers had rest for
lany years.

At the end of that time a hunter one day met an
inimal the like whereof he had never set eyes on,
fo grisly, grim and shaggy was its appearance, so
lumped its back and long its legs ; but as it used
Ihese latter away from and not towards him, he pur-

294

Back Again,

!i
1

i;!

;

sued after it. And then the story of the derelict ship
occurred to him, and he shouted after it, " Couchez I
cochon ! Sacrc nom d'un pipe ! Morbleu ! " and tlu
other endearing epithets wherewith its defunct master,
a French Canadian, was wont to caress it. And the
strange creature lay down, waited for him to mount
between its humps, and carried him triumphant to
Tobacco Plains, where for many years it laboured as
a beast of burden, and was finally eaten one day when
people were hungry. It had provided itself in tiii-
cold climate with a coat of marvellous warmth, and
was altogether so changed from its original appear-
ance as to be practically a new development of
species.

Another interesting topic was the wolverene and
its idiosyncrasies. This animal, it appears, is so sus-
picious of the schemes of its enemies that the only
way to catch it is to put a trap without any bait or
concealment in the unlikeliest place for it to come.
Then lay any amount of snares, and lures, and
cunningly concealed ambushes everywhere else. The
wolverene will be so awfully pleased with his own
smartness in detecting and avoiding these devices
that he will march straight into the one prepared for]
him.

One we were told of which came down a chimney
and pla3'ed the common or garden fool in a man's
hut. He was going away for a few days, so set a heavy
trap in the fireplace, which, however, he omitted to
secure. A neighbour next day hearing diabolical
noises in the hut, went and peeped through a chink
in the door, and there saw what he supposed to be
the Devil, a fearsome being all glaring eyes and

the derelict ship
cr it, " Couchez !
rbleu ! " and the
s defunct master,
ess it. And the
)r him to mount
1 triumphant to
rs it laboured as
-n one day when
ed itself in this
5US warmth, and
original appear-
development of

wolverene and
pears, is so sus-
;s that the only
lout any bait or
for it to come,
md lures, and
here else. The
with his own
these devices
le prepared fori

own a chimney
"ool in a man's
1, so set a heavy
he omitted toi
ring diabolical
irough a chink
upposed to be I
ing eyes and

Back Again.

295

shaggy hair. Tlic house appeared to have had a
company of liends playing Rugby football in it, if one
could imagine demons so devoid of common sense as
to engage in that pastime. Everything movable was
smashed and torn into Hinders, and the whole place,
including his vSatanic majesty, covered thickly with
Hour. The discoverer, being a courageous man, com-
menced shooting at the infernal visitant through the
chinks, and at last succeeded in kilh'ng him ; and then
the door being opened a wolverene with a steel trap
on his leg was disclosed to view, the general jam-
boree in which everythnig was embraced being the
result of the owner's carelessness in leaving the trap
unfastened. There was not one single thing, it was
said, left in that cabin that had not been smashed,
upset, or rent in pieces by the infuriated animal in
its efforts to escape, the trap being loo heavy for it to
return up the chimney.

Among other things we learnt one night a new
method of cooking a ruffed grouse, the only one that
fell a prey to the hunter on the journey. This seemed
to present so many points of novelty that we hasten
to explain the process to the public.

We sat round the fire, six in number, and one
commenced operations by plucking the grouse and
sticking it on a long skewer which was fixed in the
ground so that it leant a little over the fire. Thus it
was roasted for about half an hour, when somebody
woke up and said, " I think I should put a scrap of
onion in it." So another took four or five onions and
crammed them with difficulty into the interior of the
bird. Then the roasting proceeded for a space, and
another said, " I should turn it like this/' whereupon

'mk

296

Bac^ A guilt.

he turned it upside down, and the onions rolled oul
upon the carpet — grass that is — and were placed upo^
the fire, and their pevfumc was grateful. Then
another searcher after truth said solemnl}', " I think-
and I have not scamped the thinking — that it oughl
to be split." And it tvas ?plit, and again the roastind
went on. Finallv an impatient one said, " Let's finisll
that d — d rooster in the morning," and it was placedj
outside the lodge to cool. While there a wanderer!
trod upon it and rolled it in the sand, v/hich abounded
in that place ; and in the morning being frozen
harder than a rock, it was divided with difficulty and
a hatchet, and fried ; and with one voice the people
criea out " Z)<?dicious."

We arrived once more at the Ferry r.bout midday
on the 28th of October ; and there the Skipper and
Jim stayed to buy provisions, while Cardie with three
horses crossed the river to make a camp a few miles
further on. The other two commenced by d lunch —
ironically so-called — -which lasted about two hours,
and at which they ate all the food they didn't have
during the last four days. Then flour, dried apples,
and jam having been obtained from the store, and a
huge piece of beef from the Camp, all oi which
foraging took up much time, a start was made by
moonlight along the Cranbrook trail.

We have forgotten to mention that one day while
coming up from Tobacco Plains two men in a hurry
passed us on horseback ; and an hour or two after-
wards came three others in a greater hurry, and said
that the first two were deserters, who in the absence \
of canoes are now obliged to ride all the way to the
in2. At the Police Camp we learnt the rank and

Back Again.

297

nions rolled out
vrere placed upon

grateful. Then
nnly, " I think—
y — that it ought
gain the roasting
aid, " Let's finish
nd it was placed
there a wanderer
. which abounded
iig being frozen
rith difficulty and

voice the people

rry cioout midday '%

the Skipper and ;

Cardie with three il

camp a few miles ||

ced by ct lunch— [|

bout two hours,

they didn't have

ur, dried apples,

the store, and a

|p, all Oi whicli

rt was made by

|it one day while
men in a hurry

lur or two after-
hurry, and said
in the absence
the way to the

It the rank and

occupation of these various fugitives. There is quite
a Snark-hunting rmg about it.

The crew was complete : it included a Hoots,

A maker of Bonnets and Hoods,
A Barrister brought to arrange their disputes.

And a Broker to value their goods —

were the lines which occurred to us when we heard
that —

The Builder went first, and the Butcher in l)oots

A canoe with the Baker did share,
And now there have followed the Bugler (who toots),

And the Barber (who cuts otf their hair).

The result is that the completion of the winter
quarters has been much delayed, the bread is by no
means satisfactory, the present bugle-call gives forth
an uncertain S(3uiid, and the men do not look quite so
smart as formerl}-, but no doubt a very short time
will set right these little deficiencies.

Poor Cardie, starving in a oamp close to the first
Alkali lake, was rejoined about seven o'clock, lie
welcomed with warmth the beef and other luxuries,
including even his companions. jim was nearly
dead with ccid, for we had not been able to buy any
ropes at the Ferry — those that Phillipps had lent us
had of course returned with him ; and so the only
way of carry -ig the things on the Sorrel Nag was
to tie two bags together, hang them over his back,
[and sit on them to keep them there. *' Phe curious
[thing," as the rider said, " is that whil it has frozen
jine, it seems to have made the nag quite hot."

We have tried various experiments with tea, for
nstancc mixing it with curry powder, which happened

lanraa

rA n |i

I !

298

Bad' Again.

once when an accident to the pack burst the tin con-
taining that delicacy, and for a time we had curried
everything, inchiding hairbrushes, butter, shirts, and
jam. But at this camp we had a surpassing nastiness
in the shape of AllcaH tea, for the lake as it chanced
was the most thorouglily impregnated of all those
which lie along the trail. However, it seemed to be
harmless in the homoeopathic doses which we took
of it.

Every one at the Ferry had told us that the
weather was going to change, and congratulated us
on our great luck because now the Indian Summer
was coming. Accordingly that night the beautiful
clear weather, cold though it was, came to an end,
and in the morning we awoke to the accompaniment
of a dank November drizzle. Several different kinds
of temper, none of them worthy to be classed higher
than *' indifferent," were at once produced, and aided
by these we arrived at Cranbrook, set up our tent a
short distance from the house, and were once more
most hospitably received.

This being the easiest day we have had it was
natural that Cardie should remark —

" I shall feel awfully tired to-morrow."

" Why on earth to-morrow ? "

" Well, because I always feel tired the day after."

" Mercy on us, the da}' after what ? "

"Well, don't you know, I mean I always feel tired |
when I get up."

And this is a fair specimen of the brilliancy of our|
conversation after our hard week's work,

We had suffered so much inconvenience from the!
want of proper packing appliances that we were

Back Again.

299

ave had it was

determined to make good all deficiencies now, if
the expenditure of a little time and trouble would
enable us to do so. We spent therefore two days
of hard work in completing an outfit for all our
horses. One old pack-saddle we were lucky enough
to obtain at Tobacco Plains, and another was given
to us at Cranbrook, both of which a little tinkering
converted into thoroughl}' sen'iceable articles. We
bought one lash-rope here, made another one by
splicing together several odd lengths, and a third by
twisting up the tow-lines of our deserted canoes.
Rings for the synches Cardie soon made at the
Cranbrook for^e, while Jim was busy with tlie
construction, oui of some strong sacks bought for the
purpose, of the synches themselves, and also of the
wooden hooks for their ends.

The " Captain " provided some raw hide, invaluable
for lacing together the various trappings of the saddles,
lashing the hooks to the synches, and for stirrup
leathers and laddigoes (the spelling of the latter
word may be wrong, but the pronunciation is correct :
u laddigoc is the long leather tli g about an inch
and a half wide which takes the place of thf strap
and buckle of an English girth). Of great ;^sistance
in all these works were the copper rivets and waslurs,
of which we had brought a plentiful supply, and
which all travellers ought to carry in every wild
country.

Two " parfleches " also had to be devised for the
more troublesome miscellaneous camp-kit that would
not make up into convenient packs, and these were
at last contrived out of some strong sackcloth and
rawhide loops. A real parfleche is merely a hide,

.^oo

Back Again.

If!

^1 "-

1 1

with holes punched all round its edges, into which
all your small oddments are bundled, and laced up
by a thong through the holes, making a square kind
of leather bag, which is then hung by loops on to the
horns of the pack-saddle. Two of these had been
lent to us by Phillipps for our journey to Tobacco
Plains, but he could not spare them altogether, and
something of the kind was necessary for such things
as cooking utensils, tools, bacon, and a tin of golden
syrup which the Skipper had acquired as a poor
substitute for our departed honey.

We should strongly advise any one who comes to
this country with the idea of looking about in it to
bring with him an English saddle (or if he prefer it a
Mexican one), and whatever pack-saddles, ropes, and
other gear he may intend to use. Horses can easily
be obtained in any quantity and at moderate prices,
but equipments, according to our experience, could
not be hp' for mone}'^, to say nothing about love.
Whatever trouble and delay we suffered came from
this cause, which a very little outlay in civilised
regions would have prevented had we known as
much — or as little — as we are now imparting to
the reader.

Mexican saddles are a very expensive luxury,
though in buying one you certainly get a good deal
for your money. They cost from £\2 to ^14, and
are enormous masses of leather, with the high
pummel in front and the raised croup behind which
compel you to ride in a standing rather than sittinc
position. They are undoubtedly very good and cor-
venient for their own purposes out here, but we fai
to see that on the whole they are superior to ara

Back Again.

301

es, into which
and laced up
; a square kind
loops on to the
;hese had been
ney to Tobacco
altogether, and
for such things
a tin of golden
lired as a poor

ne who comes to
g about in it to
r if he prefer it a
iddles, ropes, and
:ior3es can easily
i moderate prices,
experience, could
ling about love,
ffered came from!
utlay in civilised
.d we known as|
low impai-ting to

expensive luxury,
y get a good deals
^12 to £\\, an(i||
with the higbl
oup behind whicl
ather than sitting^
ry good and cor,
here, but we fail
•e superior to aij

English saddle in any way, and for comfort they
cannot be compared to it — at least not from the
point of view of a man accustomed to our pattern.
We have seen English saddles slightly modified to
suit colonial requirements — i.e., with a pummel for the
lariat, and dees to carry the various accoutrements
customa*-y to the Mexican ; but not having tried these
inventions, cannot say anything either for or against
them, beyond the general axiom that all combination
dodges are " pizen."

msmimmmm

302

CHAPTER XXVII.

OPENING OF THE LODGE.

The Skipper was very busy with the camera during
our short stay, and was continually bursting into
camp in a towering passion because " the Captain/'
whose remarkable lineaments we particularly wished
to preserve, would time after time in the middle of
the fatal four seconds suddenly change his position,
wreath his countenance in engaging smiles, and
remark, " You makee wantee melluk butter all samee,
five dollahs," or some equally sapient observation, so
that after all the trouble only a poor presentment
was obtained. There was also an Indian lodge hard
by inhabited by a Kootenay and a really good looking
squaw, whose portrait was ardently coveted.

It was pretty to see the photographic party, con-
sisting of H. Baker, the Skipper, and Norbury — who
having put on a clean collar fancied himself irresist-
ible — dancing round the tepee into which the coy
beauty had retired, peeping through the doorway
opening, and adjuring her in the most persuasive
terms in their vocabulary to come forth and be taken.
Jim, as a married man, expressed strong disapproval
of the whole proceeding, and chuckled immensely
when the husband arrived unexpectedly on the scene,
and the photographers began to look for flowers and

Opetihig of the Lodge.

303

\ camera during
yr bursting into
"the Captain,"
ticularly wished
1 the middle of
ige his position,
ng smiles, and
butter all samee,
; observation, so
Dor presentment
idian lodge hard
illy good-looking
Dveted.
hie party, con-
N or bury — who
himself irresist-
which the coy
the doorway
ost persuasive
h and be taken,
ng disapproval
led immensely
lly on the scene,
for flowers and

butterflies, and talk to the dog. He however proved
much more amenable to their blandishments than his
spouse, and not suspecting, as her unerring feminine
instinct no doubt had warned her, what a fearful guy
these plausible ruffians would make of him, suffered
himself and his tepee to be victimised,* and was, we
regret to say, rather uncomplimentary to his better half
for her want of pluck.

It will give a good idea of the impracticability of the

H.M. Custom House. Cranbrook, B.C.

country when we say that although Cranbrook is
about eighty miles distant from the U. S. line, the
Custom-House for the Mooyie trail is situated here.
Probably there is not enough demand for " free trade "
to make smuggling a sufficiently profitable business :
still as far as we can learn it is not attempted
owing to the great difficulty, amounting almost to
impossibility, of getting across the country by any
way except the recognised trail, in spite of the dis-

* See Illustration, p. 136.

.,f' '■■■/•■••y\"fe-~f^

504

ope 111 It g of the Lodge.

i .

I: !

\ n

tance to be traversed before reaching H.M. Custom-
House.

The one drawback to our enjoyment was caused by
the pigs, which, being loose about the place, were con-
tinually foraging round our camp if ever we left it un-
guarded for five minutes. At night they would want
to see the time by the Waterbury watch which the
Skipper kept ui.der his "pillow'' — as he calls the assort-
ment of boots and fishing tackle on which he rests
his weary head — its position being loudly proclaimed
by its all-pervading tick. But by strict attention we
avoided any harm from their curiosity.

The last evening was a singularly beautiful one.
Prominent in the foreground was the Indian, with
his clothes brilliant enough to make an Enghsh-
woman shudder, but somehow harmonising well
with the creamy tepee, shading off as it does into
smoky brown at the top. Then the very blue
smoke against the dark green firs be3'ond, and i"
the far distance the Rockies, pink-tinged on the.
snowy summits from the last rays of the sun, and below
the darker range looking like a deep blue cloud ;
below that again a real cloud of pure white hanging
over the valle}' of the Kootenay ; nearer the pines
and tamaracks ; and lastly the cultivated fields on
the prairie — making a picture in which even the
ugly old wooden buildings had a beauty of their own,
not altogether unassociated in our minds with the
good dinners we ha i enjoyed in them.

We left Cranbrook, with its blazing fires and
jolly evenings in the best of company, on the ist
of November; the Scotch mist having at last come
to an end, and the Indian Summer, as every one

Openiug of the Lodge.

305

H.M. Custom-
was caused by
lace, were con-
r we left it un-
ley would want
atch which the
calls the assorl-
which he rests
Lidly proclaimed
LCt attention we

y beautiful one.
le Indian, with
Ice an English-
Lrmonising well
as it does into
the very blue
beyond, and i''
tinged on thei:
le sun, and below
ep blue cloud ;
je white hanging
earer the pines
vated fields on
hich even the
iy of their own,
inds with the

Izing fires and
|iny, on the ist|
ig at last come I
as every ond

assured us, "just agoing to begin." Our new pack-
train worked admirably, but we made a very short
day, stopping at the little praiiie where our former
camp had been made, on account of its good horse
feed.

That evening there was made the sensible obser-
vation of the whole trip, an occurrence equally
remarkable and important to our happiness during
the following da3's. We were lamenting the evenings
no more to be ours in that lodge on the way up from
Tobacco riains. Said Cardie, "Why not make a
lodge instead of talking so much of its advantages ? "
And so greatly were we struck by the excellence of
the idea that no one so much as observed " Donkey."

There was the framework of an old Indian tepee
still standing at this place, so that correct dimensions
were easily procured, and accordingly next morning
the work was begun. Two of the horses, 3'^earning
for the flesh-pots of Cranbrook, had " skipped out,"
and it seemed appropriate that the Skipper should
skip after them.

Jim constructed a yard measure, and after a few

minutes' measuring of the old lodge, and what he

Icalled "getting out specifications" on the back of an

envelope, he announced his opinion as to the size

[and shape of the canvas required.

Cardie in the meantime by an ingenious adapta-
Ition of the Differential Calculus and some abstruse
Logarithms had succeeded in arriving at exactly the
[same figure ; and an examination of the tent and
|waggon-sheet proved that we had just enough
laterial for the required purpose.

All that day, which luckily was beautifully fine

F -

!f:^

Opoung of the Lodge.

'M\k\

though cold, we worked hard, measuring, cutting out,
and sewing, no less than twenty-two yards of strong
stitching being required ; but at evening a lodjie
of the very best construction, with ears, sockets on
them for the chimney poles, and doorway pro-
vided with double-breasted flaps and tapes for
closing it, silk-lined throughout, and finished with
all modern improvements, price six guineas, was
reared on the little prairie ; and at night we sat
round a fire rejoicing in the warmth and light, while
the keen frost outside only made our present lot tlic
more delightful.

It was rather startling to see in letters of blood
the word J. L. appear on the side of the tent,
illuminated for the first time by the blazing fire
within. It was in vain for Cardie to protest that
he remembered thus marking the waggon-sheet with
red paint. I5ut after a time we reflected that even
if the tent did belong to Jael, none of us were
Sisera, and we need not pay any attention to the
ominous characters.

One of our greatest grievances since the short
days and long nights set in has been the difficulty
of doing anything, however simple, after dark. We
have carried candles, but their use has been very
unsatisfactor}', for in our open waggon-sheet there
was always more or less of a draught, and the tent
was too small and stuffy for more than one person
to use it at once, besides being very cold. But a
tepee removes all these objections at once. In thej
first place, from its conical shape, there is so much
reflected light from the fire, that with that alone
reading and writing arc perfectly easy ; but to make

g, cutting out,
ards of strong
ning a lodge
rs, sockets on
doorway pro-
,nd tapes for
finished with
guineas, was
night we sat
ind light, while
present lot the M

letter^ of blood
le of the tent.
he blazing fuc

to protest that
iggon-sheet with

ected that even
)ne of us were

attention to the

since the short |
en the difficulty
after dark. We'
has been very
^gon-sheet there |
ht, and the tent I
han one person
■y cold. But a
t once. In thel
Ihere is so niuchl
with that alonel

Our I.oi/i^fe
{With sides throiun back to show the interior).

Page jo6.

but to niakel

-. i

* L. ■

■I ■

liii

opening of the Lodge,

307

the interior luxurious we generally have a candle
as well ; and thus all household duties beconir easy
of performance. The pitching and taking down are
not any more trouble than an ordinary tent, unless
of course you have to cut fresh poles, which in this
Indian-frequented country is a rare occurrence, and
would be still rarer were it not for the habit those
confounded white men have of using the poor red-
skin's property for firewood. (It was curious to
see how quickly our sympathies as tepee-owners
were transferred to the Indian side of the question ;
hitherto we had on several occasions, we regret to
say, burnt a few poles ourselves.) The only other
extra trouble connected with it is the necessity for
cutting the firewood up into rather smaller pieces —
about two feet in length — than those used for an
outdoor fire ; but this is a slight matter, and amply
repaid by the greater convenience of such fuel both
for cooking and lighting purposes. We used to
make a heap at the side of each bed, so that any
one could add a stick to the fire whenever required,
without moving.

Another immense advantage was having all our
" truck " under cover, safe against the weather,
skunks, and coyotes, and also ready at hand for any-
thing we might want out of it. The various packages,
no longer in the way as they used to be in the
waggon-sheet, now helped to make our beds more
comfortable. The latter were of course used not
only for sleeping in, but, slightl}^ altered in shape,
for sitting on during the day for meals or work, their
[Circular position round the fire being particularly con-
jvenient for the former occupation.

I !

I a iiiii

!; 'M

il I;

308

Opening of the Lodge.

We do not know how the Indians manage their
cooking, but fancy they erect a small tripod over
the fire. Our plan, which we flatter ourselves to be
perfection, was as follows : — When tying the three
original poles together near their tops, we used a
cord long enough for one end to hang down nearly
to the fire : on this we put knots three inches apart,
and Sliding on this cord was a green willow stick
about eighteen inches long, the lower end of which
being hooked held the kettle or can, while the upper
was perforated with a hole and slit in the shape of
a button hole, so that the knots would run through
the round part but not through the narrow slit. By
this device we coul 1 in a moment support the kettle
at any height necessary above the fiie. Any man
who wanted it had only to push it with his foot or
a piece of firewood, when the return swing would
deliver it straight into his hands ; and in this way
everything was passed from one to another at food
time.

Last but by no means least of the advantages
of this dwelling, especially on these bitterly cold
mornings, is the ease with which the fire can be
lighted before you get out of bed, all that is needful
being to keep a supply of " pitch-pine " chips ready.
This is wood covered with rosin from having been
deprived of its bark, 01 saturated with turpentine
f»'om some uncertain cause, which we tMnk to be
cutting down in the spring of the year. Five minutes 1
after the fire is lighted the tepee is filled with a
genial warmth in which it is a pleasure to dress, anti|
all excuse for bad temper has disappeared.

And now as camping out is such a favourite occu-

opening of the Lodge.

309

manage their
I tripod over
irselves to be
ing the three
s, we used a
; down nearly
; inches apart,
-1 willow stick

end of which
bile the upper
I the shape of
d run through
irrow slit. By
Dport the kettle
lie. Any man
rith his foot or
n swing would
nd in this way

nother at food

[the advantages
|e bitterly cold
[he fire can be
that is need till
" chips ready.
|m having been
'ith turpentine
^c t'Mnk to be
rive minutes I
is filled with a
•e to dress, and|

ired.
favo irite occu-j

pation at Henley time, and Buffalo Bill has popu-
larised Westcrnism, any one who wishes to try for
himself the virtues of a tp (we don't see why we
shouldn't spell it like that if we choose : who are
the Indians, anyway, that they should dictate to us ?)
can do so by observing the following rules. We do
not claim that they are the absolute best, but tney
made a capital lodge for us, and are good enough.

Describe a circle with a 13-foot radius. Draw a
straight line 20^ feet long between two points of
the circumference. The segment of the circle between
tliose two points is half the tp ; the other half is
another similar segment. Sew these two halves to-
gether by a pair of their 13-foot edges, and provide
the other 13-foot edges with double-breasted tapes
for about 9 feet of their height from the ground, the
remaining 4 feet being left open to serve as a chimney.
If this canvas be now placed in position it would
form a complete cone, so it requires the top to be cut
oflf about 1 5 inches from the apex, not quite squarely,
but in surh a curve as to leave the two unsewn edges
rather longer than the rest of the erection. These
two edges then form the ears or cowl of which men-
tion has already been made. In our tp we added
a little more stuff to these cars, making them project
laterally from the truncated cone as well as above it.
Sockets of stout canvas, ready to receive the ends of
the chimney-poles, were then sewn on to the corners
of the ears, and the thing was complete.

A really first-rate lodge has after erection a kind
of dado of hides or rusii mats placed all round it
inside to keep off the draught, which is otherwise
troublesome ; and the door, to obviate the necesFity

'?IO

;i|f:

If!

iii
'I

Opening of the Lodgt\

for tape-tying, is made of a skin stretched on a couple
of sticks which hangs over the opening. We think
probably a most effective dado could be contrived
by attaching to the wall of the tp a piece of stuff
about thirty inches wide and rather larger than the
true circumference, which would only be connected at
points a foot or two apart, thus hanging rather loosely
all round. This dado would be furnished with a sod
cloth on which soil could be thrown, thus compelling
the air to rise up between the two walls and enter
only over the top of the dado at the loose hanging
folds. If between these two walls muslin were sewn,
the tp would be mosquito-proof. Even in its primi-
tive form it is by far the best tent for evading these
creatures, fcr owing to the conical shape it is easy to
smoke them out, and once out the door can be slammed
in their faces.

Candlesticks can be made in a variety of ways,
but none of them superior to this : — Take a straight-
grained stick (willow or quaking asp is the best for
the purpose, but almost any wood will do) about a
yard long. Cut the thin end sharp and the thick one
square. Cut down the grain at the thick end a right-
angled -f , dividing it into four equal segments, and
splitting it down for about five or six inches with
eacn cut. Put two little pegs through the cuts to
hold the quarter's at such a distance apart that a candle
nicely fits between them ; and 3'our candlestick is
made.

We used a sheet of our last Times for a pattern
in cutting out the canvas, and when at night we were
snugly ensconced in our new home we all agreed that
next to the publishing of " Parnellism and Crime," this

opening of the Lodge.

31 »

on a couple
We think
DC contrived
)iece of stuff
ger than the
connected at
•ather loosely
id with a sod
Lis compelling
ills and enter
loose hanging
in v/ere sewn,
I in its primi-
evading these
e it is easy to
m be slammed

was the best thing the Times ever did. Not that we
are unmindful of that celebrated occasion when the
missionary and his wife went out to convert the Beda-
wcens, and about ten minutes after their first interview
with those untamed heathen, were stripped of all they
possessed, and returned to the place whence they set
out, he dressed in the Times and she in the " Supple-
ment," which the children of the desert had feared to
touch on account of the cabalistic characters engraved
thereo'i. By the way, why is the " Thunderer " the best
newspaper for clothing purposes ? Because there is
always a Buckle, or rather a pair of Buckles, attached
to it.

■iety of ways,
ke a straight-
s the best for
I do) about a

the thick one
;k end a right-
segments, and
X inches with
;h the cuts to

t that a candle
[candlestick is

. \y\

for a pattern

[night we were

\\\ agreed that

id Crime," this

8!!

312

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE MOOYIE TRAIL.

Just as we were finishing our house a very unpleasant-
looking person arrived on the scene. He was on foot,
and had no visible weapons, but carried a small pack.
His countenance was distinctly what novelists call
" sinister," and he had a nasty familiar style of address
that we did not like. We discouraged his advances so
much that he " guessed he would go on to Peavine,"
whereat we rejoiced.

Early next morning came a still more truculent
villain on a strong horse. This one bristled with
rifles and revolvers, and had a more jaunty and self-
satisfied air than the other. He seemed to expect an
invitation to breakfast, but as we did not rise to the
occasion, he inquired if any one had passed. We
mentioned the other ruffian, whereupon he exclaimed,
" That's the man I want ! " and asking what time he
went by, said, " I guess I shall catch him," put spurs
to his horse, and vanished down the trail.

We were left in a state of uncertainty whether or
not these men were enemies. If they were, the first
one seemed likely to have a pretty tough time of it ;
but the general ir ^ression left on all our minds was
that they were friends, and that we had better look
out, for two " harder citizens " we never saw. This

The Mooyie Trail.

1 unpleasant-
was on foot,
a small pack,
lovelists call
^le of address
s advances so
1 to Peavine,"

ore truculent
bristled with
nty and self-
to expect an
t rise to the
lassed. We
le exclaimed,
hat time he
/' put spurs

whether or
^ere, the first

time of it ;
|r minds was

better look

saw. This

impression was by no means weakened when Jim
going quietly down the trail with a rifle ahead of our
train, caught sight of '.he man who had left us in such
a hurry a couple o^ hours before just disappearing
round a bend in the path where he had apparently
been waiting for ub.

We soon found oy the tracks that the two men had
joined each other, and did not like the look of it at all.
What we expected was that they would wait until we
had camped, and then jump upon us and requisition
our horses, rifles, and food. But of course they were
not unlikely to pounce anywhere along the track ; so
we advanced all day in skirmishing order, with two
rifles and the shot-gun ready, the latter being con-
sidered the handiest weapon for close quarters. We
sent Cardie and JIti as an advance guard to creep
softly into the camp at the lower end of the Mooyie
lakes, and if necessary do the pouncing ourselves.

To our great relief our white friends were not
there, and a large Indian family was — father, mother,
children, and papoose all complete ; and never were
we more pleased to see one of our red-skinned
brethren, who, whatever their faults, are not burglars
and highwa3^men.

We could even forgive this one for annexing our
old camp, and using up all the lodge-poles, thus com-
pelling us to cut a fresh lot. We have very little
doubt that our estimate of the " mean whites " was
correct, and that but for the Indian family there would
have been trouble at Mooyie bridge. Those men
looked capable of breaking all the Ten Command-
ments at once, except the one about doing no manner
of work.

3^4

The Mooyie Trail.

/. i

■■tn

1 " !'i :

ii:^

The Indian patriarch was very civil, offering us
fish, of which he had caught a good store. It was
curious to see his cavalcade next morning as they rode
off on the up trail. The last baby was perched in
some way inside the blanket on its mother's back ;
while the last but one, a youth of about eighteen
months, was mounted on a horse of its own, on which
we imagined it to be strapped. All the elder ones
managed their own steeds, but this one had no reins,
and depended on the horse following the same track
as the rest, the father going first and the mother
acting as rear-guard, so that they had a fair chance of
preventing accidents.

We passed a most picturesque pair yesterday in the
forest, a young and handsome Kootenay and a really
pretty wife, who strange to say were walking, having
probably gambled away their horses. They stopped
to look at us as we went by, their brilliant blankets
and handsome faces making themselves, we fancy, a
much more pleasing spectacle than our rags and nags
could afford. They gave us to understand by signs
that the Indian Summer might now be expected, and
with that we parted. "

The fishing had not improved since we were here
before, the season being really past, and the weather
too cold for any enjoyment to be got out of it. Here
was laid the foundation of that celebrated fish story
of the Skipper : How he had caught the grandfather
of all trouts, duly knocked him on the head and put
him in his pocket — for that is what he is now reduced
to in the way of fishing bags. Presently, while he
was putting another fish into the same receptacle, the
monster had unkilled himself, made a rush for liberty,

The Mooyie Trail.

:i5

offering us
re. It was
as they rode
\ perched in
ther's back ;
Dut eighteen
wn, on which
le elder ones
had no reins,
e same track
i the mother
fair chance of

sterday in the
^ and a really
alking, having
They stopped
liant blankets
5, we fancy, a
ags and nags
and by signs
expected, and

Iwe were here
the weather
of it. Here
led fish story
le grandfather
jhead and put
now reduced
itly, while he
l-cceptacle, the
Ish for liberty,

leaped out of the pocket into the stream, and swam
happily away. We hasten to print this version before
it has arrived at incredible dimensions ; thereby we
liope saving the Skipper's character for veracity.

The next night's camp was a few miies further
down the trail, and at last on ground we had not
visited before. If our bushranging pair were medi-
tating a descent on us, they were here foiled by the
arrival of three men driving a few cattle up to the
Ferry for the Police Camp. Amusing fellows they
were too, thorough Yankees, and in the highest spirits
in spite of their miserable occupation, for getting wild
cattle through a country like this is anything but a
pleasant piece of work. They told us they got little
sleep, which we could well believe, for the first thing
that happened the morning after they had gone was
the return of some of their beasts to our camp, and
the next the arrival of two hot and infuriated drovers
in pursuit. For a few minutes the air was filled with
a confused noise of bellowing, blasphemy, and revolver
shots, amidst which men and oxen disappeared.

Just before departing they condoled with us on
the weather, but " guessed that in another day the
Indian Summer would be around, and then we should
be all right."

The trail forward was very bad, wringing wet
everywhere, and in places a mass of sharp rocks.
The horses did not like it a bit, and Our Own, as
usual the ringleader in any mutin}^ began to evade
his duty by wandering off the path. He had a lively
day of it, for latterly if he so much as looked side-
ways Cardie was ready for him, and brought a stick
down on him with a noise like a pistol crack. It

3i6

The Mooyie Trail.

%
^

I'iiif

may sound hard-hearted, but it really was the only
way of dealing with hirr, for the roan was, we regret
to say, a thoroughly unprincipled brute, and if allowed
once to have his own way, we should never have had
ours again ; but the manner in which Cardie flew
about over trees and brooks like an avenging angel,
bounding from rock to rock with gigantic strides,
must have made even that Roan see the hopelessness
of his rebellion. Anyhow he gave in to-day, and for
the rest of the journey behaved as a most exemplary
steed.

Roany's pack alwaj's suffers more than any other
by deviation from the track, for its owner always
covers it with so many extraneous articles, such as
hat, boots, coats, rifle, axes, grouse, and treacle tins,
that, as his brother scornfully observes, " It looks
like a darned rush-cart." Occasionally he tries
sarcasm, and politely suggests, " I could find a little
room on my pack if j'ou have anything to spare for
it ; " but Cardie is impervious, and adheres to his own
method.

A very beautiful sight in the Mooyie forests arc
the splendid ferns which cover the ground under the
big trees. No doubt the f>erpetual wet for which this
pass is renowned is the secret of their size, for they
are by far the largest male ferns we have ever seen.
But their colour is the most wonderful thing about
them — a kind of pale grey, which is not, of course,
silver, but which nevertheless is better described by
the word silver than bv anv other. All trees seem
to rejoice in the damp soil of the valley ; we have
not passed through any forests of such general luxuri-
ance, and in which so many different species seem to

ras the only
IS, we regret
nd if allowed
ver have had
Cardie flew
Miging angel,
intic strides,
hopelessness
-day, and for
st exemplary

an any other
)wner always
icles, such as
d treacle tins,
es, " It looks
ally he tries
I find a little
to spare for
es to his own

je forests arc

Ind under the

for which this

I size, for they
|ve ever seen.

thing about
lot, of course,
described by

II trees seem
ty ; we have
meral luxuri-
icies seem to

The Mooyie Trail.

1^1

flourish. Conspicuous among these are the Giant
Cedars, magnificent straight trees with seamy bark
and the most lovely foliage. The most striking
feature of these trees is their perfectly shaped base,
which is invariably formed in a wide-spreading
pedestal of ma vellous symmetry. This cedar is
howevei only beautiful to look at atid no good to
burn, so in spite of his aristocratic appearance we
prefer his cousin the humble unassuming Pencil
Cedar, who makes our life endurable in this water-
logged Mooyie valley.

The trees of the country are an unending source
of conversation and argument to us. None of us
know anything in the world about them, — at least not
more than an ordinary National School child knows
— the Skipper can't spell deciduous, Jim can't pro-
nounce dicotyledonous, and Cardie doesn't know the
meaning of exogenous. Therefore we all behave as
if qualified to lay down the law on the ibject of
botany, for naturally each man feels that the ip^no-
rance of two who listen is twice as great as the
ignorance of one who speaks. As no doubt it would
be if any of us ever did listen.

The Skipper's theory is on the whole the most
contemptible : he says he is too old to learn any
new names for trees, which he considers to be stuck-
up things at best ; if these are not the same as those
which flourish in the old country, that is their look-
out, not his. Consequently to him the forest con-
sists of Larches, Christmas trees. Cedars, and Scotch
firs (the last name embracing every variety of green
thing that cannot easily be included in one of the
other three. Irish frieze or Welsh rarebits would

3'8

1 he Mooyie Trail.

be quite as accurate a description of some of tiic
vegetables which come under this comprehensive
heading). If any attempt is made to demonstrate
to him the excessive breadth of this classification,
he says, "Well, that's what they are from my point
of view ; " and what reply can be made to that ?

" From our point of view," />., United Wisdom's,
this Mooyie valley contains two or three kinds of
spruce, including, as we believe, Engelmann's, and
the Balsam Fir, Douglas Fir, and Silver Fir, Black,
White, and Yellow Pine, Tamarack, and the Giant
and Pencil Cedars. The birches are very beautiful,
but not large, and the quaking asp seems to be growing
in size as we get further west.

Our next camp was on a flat swampy meadow,
where for the sake of the horses we were compelled
to stop. Feed had now become very scarce indeed,
for the open prairie land which used to be such a
pleasant feature in the Columbia and Kootenay
valleys had long ago disappeared, and we now only
occasionally struck these marshes of coarse brown
grass, and were thankful even for them. Another
misfortune was the absence of lodge-poles, and it
was a very troublesome job to get them, for the
forest was all too big, and produced nothing of the
proper size.

The ground was so wet that we had to put all our
things, including the fire, on rafts of logs to hold them
out of the water, and at evening Cardie went out as
he said to " make some rafts for the horses to graze
off." Though it was so wet, we had to go a very
long way for drinking water, our annoyance at all
this being completed when just as we left the place

The Mooyie Trail.

319

some of the
Dinprehensive
demonstrate
classification,
•om my point
to that ?
ed Wisdom's,
liree kinds of
elmann's, and
er Fir, Black,
md the Giant
very beautiful,
, to be growing

ampy meadow,

vcre compelled

scarce indeed,

to be such a

nd Kootenay

we now only

coarse brown

em. Another

-poles, and it

them, for the

othing of the

to put all our

to hold them

went out as

lorses to graze

I to go a very

loyance at all

left the place

next morning some one discovered a lovely spring
filling a little basin within five yards of the tent.

Another day of the same kind, with the most
awful going under foot and rain and snow overhead,
brought us to the end of a huge desolate flat on which
stood and lay the remains of a burnt forest, while
through the decaying logs the young spruces were
coming up in countless millions. The further pro-
gress of the trail looked so very unpromising that
we decided to stop a day or two and hope for better
weather, and were lucky in finding a nice sheltered
spot in a little hollow close to the Mooyie River,
which had now become a large and rapid torrent.

This trail is the important road of the country, and
all communication between the Kootenay valley and
the U. S. is carried on along it ; the fallen timber
being annually chopped out at the expense of the
Province. And yet it is so insignificant in appear-
ance that it was not until the lodge was erected that
some one said, " Hello, you've put the house in the
m ddle of the road ; " and so it was. But the traffic
was not so enormous that we thought it worth while
to move it.

The horse-feed here was very scanty, so that
tethering the poor beasts was out of the question,
and yet we dare not let them all go free, lest they
should leave us to our fate, with the weather threaten-
ing all sorts of horrible things. Cardie was equal
to the occasion, and with the remains of the leather
he turned out two sets of hobbles, with which for
the future our steeds were adorned when grazing.
Plain has now transferred his broken heart to that
Roan, who being distinguished by a bell and hobbleii

320

The Mooyie Trail.

is considered by him an efficient substitute for Spot
senior. Spot junior has the other pair of hobbles,
and the Sorrel Nag being a diffident creature will not
go away by himself.

At almost every camp in the Mooyie we were
attended by those delightful birds known as the

Tlie Canada Jay [Perisoreus Cauatfe/isis). ■

Camp Robbers or Whisky Jacks. They are the
nicest bipeds we have met, very tame pnd pretty,
and keeping up such a melodic us little undercurrent
of dulcet talk to each other all the time tliey are
hopping about within a foot or two of the lords of
creation, and walking off with unconsidered trifles of|
food. Their appearance is much the same as that

Jtitute for Spot
air of hobbles,
'eature will not

>oyie we were
known as tht

The Mooyie Trail.

wets sr:i£ r^^- t ^^-^^^^^ ^

''■ Thefr generalrn ^ ^ •"'' ^''^"'"'^-'^ identical with

white abotf ■ e ,L " to ," ' ^" "' '""''"^ ''•°'" P"-
sides. ""^ '° '^'■°>^"'^'> on tlie breast and

sis). ■

They are the
le and pretty,
i undercurrent
time tb.ey are
f the lords of
iered trifles of I
same as that

K t

322

CHAPTER XXIX.

YANKEE DOODLE.

The situation of our house on the high-road was not
without its inconveniences. In the night the Skipper
awoke and said, "Mush, I hear a bear; I hear him
thinking — I mean, I think I hear him " (the walls of
this lodge are so thin you could hear a man's con-
science through them, if any of us had brought such
a thing). There was a glutinous silence, and then
some one brushed past along the trail, and the Skipper,
still a little nervous about those two " hard citizen- "
rushed to the door rifle in hand, and shouted to ihv: ||
pass'ng stranger. He received no reply ; but so con-
vinced was he that some one had been there that we
looked for tracks first thing in the morning, and saw
that our nocturnal visitor was really a bear, which
possibly accounted for his inattention to our remarks,
behaviour which at the time we thought " barely
civil."

The Skipper had come out here with the intention
of taking a photograph of a live bear in his native
wilds, a thing which he understood had never been
done before, and which he was fully convinced he was
the man to accomplish. The idea was that he and
Jim were to prowl about until they found the animal i
at lunch, fix the camera, and get all ready ; then put

-road was not
bt the Skipper
r ; I hear him
" (the walls of
■ a man's coii-
[ brought such
nee, and then
id the Skipper,
hard citizen' "
shouted to ihc
^ ; but so con-
[ there that we
'ning, and saw
a bear, which
our remarks,
Dught " barely

h the intention
• in his native
ad never been
nvinced he was
,s that he and
Lind the animal
;ady ; then put

Iliiii

oiY^ ^ad/(! stea di^ .please !

'^^nk (fO LL_, Ikdt m/dL do?)

Photography Extraordinary.

Page 323.

Yankee Doodle.

'Q5e .'

\Pagt 323-

a bullet through his ear just to attract his attention,
and take him in the very act of charging, shooting
him dead of course just before he reached the
apparatus. Somehow, whenever we had the camera
ready we did not come upon bears, and when we
found bears it never seemed to be the right time for
fetching cameras, and so this great idea fell through.
Not to disappoint our readers, however, we give a
sketch of how the programme should have been carried
out, if things had not gone so contrary.

At this camp we stayed two days, both of which
were spent in fruitless hunting on the surrounding
mountains ; for by this time the beef was finished,
and we wanted flesh. The weather was so bad that
it was dangerous and in fact impossible to go very
far from camp, for snow fell incessantly, and the high
mountains were veiled in perpetual cloud. We saw
enough to convince us that mule-deer and cariboo
were numerous here, but the white-tail, which was
so plentiful all down the Kootenay, was conspicuous
by its absence. Tracks of the former lay in every
direction in the snow, not half an hour old, but we
were not in luck, and saw none of the owners of these
footprints, and hunting in the snow and niist was a
very cold and miserable performance.

Cold alone can be endured, but cold and wet eannot,
even when they induced the Skipper to give us the
story of another cold hunt he had from Fort Steel
some years ago.

" Next morning w*s Christmas Day, and we thought
it warm enough to go out, so rode up into the deep snow
in the mountains, and kept at it all day through the
drifts and forests ; and in spite of its snowing hard

■ I

1
1

Va?ikrr Doodle.

all the time we were quite cheery, just because it was
Christmas, you know. About two o'clock we reached
the summit, and should have been able to look down
the Pacific slopes if we could have seen two hundred
yards in any direction, but that was impossible. Well,
we made a fire there, and had our Christmas dinner of
bread and butter and currant jelly, and while we were
at that it stopped snowing, and down about two miles
away I saw a large herd of Elk (Wapiti) feeding. Of
course we set rff at once, but on our way came on six
other Elk feeding in a valley by themselves, so we de-
cided to leave the main herd for another day, and went
after these six. We followed them for nearly two
hours as they fed through the forest, but we never got
within shot, and at last lost them, and turned back
for the others. After another tremendous ride we
found ourselves on one side of a steep valle\% and the
herd standing still half way up the wooded hill oppo-
site to us, about 250 3^ards away. Then we blazed
at them ; I got two and the other fellow one, and of
course we proceeded to gralloch them. As soon as
the excitement was over we realised our position —
five o'clock on Christmas Day ; quite dark ; snowing
like old boots ; 20° of frost, and a slight wind getting
up, just enough to drive the snow in our faces and
nearly poke our eyes out; fourteen miles from home;
and both ourselves and our horses tired to death.
We did just know where we were, and without
more delay left the Elk as they la}', and set off!
for the camp. No doubt wo were lucky to g
there, which we did late at night, more dead thaiij
alive. And what a Christmas supper we had 01
antelope steak, hot bread, and whisky-punch, the|

Yankee Doodle.

325

:ause it was
: we reached
) look down
two hundred
sible. Well,
lias dinner of
;hile we were
3ut two miles
feeding. Of
y came on six
ves, so we de-
day, and went
or nearly two
t we never got
d turned back
idous ride we
Ivalley, and the
jded hill oppo-
|hen we blazed
w one, and of
As soon as
lour position—
_ark; snowing
[it wind getting
our faces and
[es from home ;
ired to death,
and without,
and set off
lucky to get
lore dead than
v we had oi|
,ky-punch, tlu

last being a special addition to the bill of fare in
honour of the day."

Late on the second night we were roused b}' the
trampling of horse-hoofs and the sound of a man's
voice, and at once turned out to see what the un-
usual event might mean, for in this country it is
the rarest thing for any one to travel by night.
There we found our friends the Yankee drovers,
who, having completed their work with the cattle,
were hurrying back into the States by a series of
forced marches. To-day they had made forty
miles over this awful trail, and their horses were
not unnaturally quite played out. Poor fellows,
they were glad to make their camp here, and though
they were off again at daybreak they managed to
be very amusing before they went. One of them
was the cheeriest blackguard we ever met : unfortu-
nately his stories, which were genuinely funn}^, were
nearly all totally unfit for publication, and those that
might have been told relied for their effect on some
of the most appalling specimens of western language
that ever were invented. He seemed to have a
greater general dislike for the Indians than any
one we had seen ; saying amongst other things
that they were "great fellers to stand around and
pick their teeth while you were eating," which
certainly does hit them off with a master's hand.
" Etarnal fellers to feed ; it's like putting stuff into
a ship's hold to try and fill them up," he continued,
and then proceeded to tell us of what he called a
" Dictionary man who allowed he was going to
make a conversation book of the Kootcnay tongue."
So he got an Indian who understood English, gave

326

Yankee Doodle,

him a simple sentence, and asked for the translation.
He said " the Indian gave two sneezes and a hiccough,
then whistled for a while, choked, and said, ' Have
you got that down ? * and the Dictionary man thought
he didn't want any of it in his, and left."

Shorn of their picturesque and incongruous blas-
phemy, the stories of this genial ruffian were mere
outlines, but he had an extraordinary store of them.
His last words as he departed were, " Look out for

the Line about five miles from here, by when

you get out of this old monarchical

of a country of \-ours j'ou'll
"- of

well see what a
of a trail ought

to be. And sa}', bo\'5 ! that Indian Summer will be

along pretty soon and then " And so they

disappeared in the driving sleet, jovial to the last.

We have certainly found it difficult to pick up
much of the Indian tongue : for one thing, they all
talk in a kind of inaudible whisper, so that a white
man cannot hear what they say, much less understand.
This is very tr^'ing to us, for being fully convinced
that the most imf>ortant use of any foreign language
is to call for drinks, and the next to abuse the natives
for not bringing them, we did hope that we should
before this have become to that extent proficient in
the Kootcnay dialect. The Skipper, who has at his
fingers' ends terms alike injurious to the persons
addressed and disrespectful to the memory of their |
departed relatives, in Hindustani, Norwegian, Egyptian,
and Somersetshire, is particularly grieved about it, forJ
as he mournfully says, "What can you do with a
language that positiveh' has no equivalent for 'son oij
a sea-cook ' 7 "

Yankee Doodle.

^ o *•
J-/

translation.
I a hiccough,
said, 'Have
man thought

gruous blas-
1 were mere
;ore of them.
Look out for
when

irchical ■

1 see what a
a trail ought
Limmer will be
And so they
to the last.
lit to pick up
liing, they all
that a white
;ss understand,
'ully convinced
•eign language
|ise the natives
lat we should
t proficient in
■ho has at his
the persons
inory of their 1
■ian, Egyptian,
'd about it, for,
ou do with a
nt for ' son oi|

One stroke of genius Cardie has achieved, viz.,
hissing out between his clenched teeth in a malig-
nant manner the word " Katlahalshin," which strictly
^peaking means merely " horse," but when properly
used in the way indicated lias all the blood-curdling
properties of a horrid oath. {Recommended.^

The snow continued steadily, and each day the
clouds crept lower down the mountains and made
hunting more and more out of the question, so on the
9th of November, in a blinding sleet-shower, we again
struck camp, picked our wa}' along the deeply buried
trail, and about midday crossed the Internati'^ nal
Boundary Line.

Then and not till then did we appreciate the
Parthian shot of that untruthful drover when he
vaunted the superiority of the Republican trail over
that of the eflfete Dominion. The Line was marked
indeed by a huge monument of piled stones in ♦^he
forest, but it was marked much more clearly by the
complete absence of any attempt to keep the road open
or chop out fallen timber on the U.S. side. The soil
was a tangled mass of roots and mud, over which
were spread innumerable little runnels of water,
making walking as miserable an exercise as could be
imagined. In all this discomfort the path wandered
up and down and lost itself, and came up again in
unexpected places in the most bewildering and
exasperating manner ; and so this day passed.

At night we had arrived at an open space of poor
feed known as " Round Prairie," and here all wet and
muddy as we were, we were thankful to see something
like a change in the soil and general appearance of
the coiintr}', and began to hope we were getting

^mt

328

Yankee Doodle.

through this sloppy valley, where we honestly believe
what every one said to be true, that it rains 350 days
out of every year. The name Mooyie or Mooyea
is, by the way, only a voyagcur's corruption of
" mouille," a word which we arc credibly informed
by a French dictionary signifies "soaking wet."

The Skipper until now has never been tired of
preaching to us the superiority of the go-ahead States
over sleepy Canada and England, and the phrase, " Ah,
wait till you get across the Line," has been frequently
on his lips ; but the Mooyie trail has converted him,
and he is now a confirmed Yankeephobist. Wc can
only say that if they want a deserving object for the
remains of that Alabama Surplus, they cannot do better
than devote it to chopping out this pathway and filling
^ up the holes and ditches which pervade it to the great
loss and detriment of the unfortunate traveller.

A fortnight afterwards we met that light-hearted
purveyor of fiction the Drover, and taxed him with
his heartless deceit. It seemed that he had been
chuckling to himself ever since over the idea of

what those Britishers would say

when they crossed the Line, his only excuse being
that as we " had got to come along that trail any-
how, he didn't see the use of filling us up with a
lot of — Scripture stuff."

As it is just possible that the Americans ma}' like
to know our opinion of their mighty nation, this seems
to be a favourable opportunity for expressing it, and
we hope it may do them good.

An enlightened American citizen who has travelled
" some " is, speaking broadly, one of the best fellows
in the world, being more easily detected as such than

Yankee Doodle.

329

cstly believe
ins 350 days
or Mooyea
orruption of
Dly informed
5 wet."
Dcen tired of
■ahead States
phrase, "Ah,
:en frequently
)nvertcd him,
ist. Wc can
object for the
.nnot do better
kray and filling
it to the great

laveller.
light-hearted

xed him with
he had been
the idea of
Ts would say
excuse being
[hat trail any-
s up with a
ripture stuff."
ans may like
|on, this seems
issing it, and

has travelled

best fellows

as such than

a good Englishman, though not actually superior to
liim. This kind of travelled American is not at all
a rarity, but may be met in all places where people
congregate, and in some where they do not.

Another capital fellow as a rule is the true
pioneer, hunter, or miner of the Far West, who has
learnt the lessons of nature in her grandest moods,
and knows how weak and dependent the best of us
are. But take the too common native product of the
country, who has lived all his life among his own
sort, and in the same kind of place — well, we have not
a Britisher to equal him, and that is saying a good
deal. He is more prejudiced than the finest old Tory
Squire, and without the good qualities which so often
make the latter one of the most lovable of men. Let
him get away with his own ideas of America as com-
pared with the rest of the world, and you will long
for death (his) to put an end to your sufferings.
He will lay down the law and ignore your sugges-
tions (if you are unwise enough to make any), and
give you " Amurrica " till you wish it was Happy
Japan, where, as Shirley Brooks sings —

" We're informed that in Happy Japan
Folks are free to believe what they can ;
But if they come teaching and preaching and screeching
They go off to jail in a van."

And the saddening aspect of it is that he really
believes all that he says, and is convinced that the
Stars and Stripes float over the most intelligent,
civilised, and liberty-loving communit\', and the most
magnificent and fertile country in the world, and that
there is absolutely nothing in which America does

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Photographic

Sciences
Corporation

5 * »VES\ MAIN STREET

WILBSTER, NY. I4S80

(716) 872-4503

i«l

-t

330

Yankee Doodle.

i I

not whip creation : for nearly all of which, in our
humble opinion, the very inferior Press is to blame.
Even in New York, where the leading journal is
equal or even superior to the best of ours as a
«<?Z£'5paper, the same disfiguring pettiness and per-
sonality are prominent which in the local prints form
their only claims to notice.

And now let their critics waltz in and say what
they think of our way of writing. Absence of inter-
national copyright is a wonderful thing for giving a
writer the courage of his opinions.

The physical condition of the race is disappointing.
One knows the beauty of the American girls who
come over to us, but in the first place these are a
picked lot ; and secondly, they cannot stay — thirty
years make an oldish woman of any of them. This
is no doubt satisfactory enough to the debutantes by
increasing the speed of promotion, but not to those
whose reign has hardly begun bv.fore it is over, nor
to a man who likes his wife to retain her good looks
a little beyond the honeymoon.

The men are not only on the whole a plain race,
but, by an old country standard, a badly made one,
with narrow chests and sloping shoulders, though we
must admit that their apparently inferior physique
seems often capable of doing a wonderful amount of
work, and doing it well. Our observation is chiefly
confined to the Western States — of the East and
South we know very little — and our impression is
that the European stock deteriorates and needs con-
stant renewal. An Englishman going out improves
in health and strength ; but his children arc not equal 1
to English children, the boys have not the same jolly

Yankee Doodle.

331

lich, in our
s to blame.
; journal is

ours as a
ss and per-

prints form

rid say what
nee of inter-
for giving a

disappointing,
an girls who
; these are a
stay — thirty
them. This
debutantes by
not to those
t is over, nor
er good looks

a plain race,
Idly made one,
irs, though we
["erior physique
•ful amount of
ition is chiefly
the East and
impression is
Lnd needs con-
out improves
;n are not equal |
the same jolly]

careless faces and light hearts as our boys, they are
men in mind at fourteen, and the girls also grow up
much too soon.

As to the cause. The climate is probably re-
sponsible for much of it, but surely the sort of food
they take and the way they take it for more. They
eat any amount of hot rolls and other fancy breads
(usually made with baking powder), and also pastry
and sweets. The meat is distinctly badly cooked ;
they drink neat spirits on an empty stomach, and
follow it with iced water, of which they also consume
an inordinate amount at all times ; and they begin
these practices very young. They bolt their food
without mastication and do the chewing afterwards,
cither on a toothpick for a couple of hours after a
dinner of twenty minutes, or on tobacco during the
rest of their waking moments ; the children and girls
practising on " gum," whatever that may be. Tobacco
chewing, besides being one of the nastiest habits in
its execution, cannot we think be a healthy one.

Lastly, the girls absolutely, and the men to a great
extent, never take any exercise that can possibly oe
avoided — the Canadians are not included in this
sweeping assertion. For instance, no one ever thinks
of walking upstairs, but lifts are going perpetually in
any building of more than two stories. And every
house worthy of the name has double windows, and
heating apparatus, and stoves, and patent ventilators,
and warm carpets, and every other ingenious dev'ice
yet invented for keeping the interior perfectly free
from draughts and of a deliciously warm, pleasing
temperature — and giving you your death of cold
directly you put your nose outside it.

II'

332

Yankee Doodle.

For the rest, lefc it suffice to say concerning
the Americans and their customs that we esteem
them highly, inasmuch as their faults are about the
same as our own, only with the accents differently
placed.

;i 1 -ji'

sss

concerning

we esteem

about the

differently

( 333 )

CHAPTER XXX.

MUD.

We left Round Prairie in the rain which at the lower
elevation was beginning to take the place of the
continuous snow, passing among other unpleasant
sights a burnt lodge, to remind us that even our
comfortable home was liable to the fate which has
befallen so many statelier mansions ; and alas ! we
were not insured.

On this part of the trail we began to meet several
birds hitherto strangers to us ; notably the Western
Robin, which, as most people know, is reall}' a thrush,
and a very poor imitation of our EngHsh Redbreast.
From the corner of a marsh a Great Grey Owl flew
up into the nearest tree, and sat there blinking ;
and in the forest we came quite close to a Western
Goshawk, which was surprised in the act of dining
on a grouse : this she refused to abandon, and car-
ried off in triumph as she flew. Along the side of
the trail were many nests of Golden-crested Wrens,
very beautiful, made chiefly of moss and feathers, and
hung from the fork of a twig.

About mid-day we came to a place where there
was the choice of two trails, one going south direct
to Bonner's Ferry, the other reaching the same place

7f^

334

Mud.

l^f

'i l.|i

by a more circuitous westerly route, but one on
which report said there was plenty of horse feed,
whereas the southerly trail had none. This junction
was on the brow of a steep descent into a flat valley,
the nearer part of which was thickly forested, while
beyond we could see broad yellow plains of luxuriant
grass. Dotted about over these were clumps of
Cottonwood trees, like islands in a sea, and in places
the bush-lined course of a little creek, or what the
cyclopaedia calls " a lacustrine expanse encintured
with sylvan ornature." Far away in these yellow
meadows could be seen the broad surface of the
now smoothly-flowing Kootenay, and beyond low
dark hills all wrapped in dense bands of white
cloud, and here and tliere snowy peaks not of very
striking grandeur.

We chose the western path and commenced the
descent, Jim and the Sorrel Nag immediately pitching
head foremost into a prickly bush, from which how-
ever they emerged cnly slightly damaged. Then
Spot's pack came over his head, the extra synch which
was put on to prevent sucii catastrophes having for
some reason failed to do iis work. But no harm
was done, and in due course we reached a small
brook where the trail disappeared from view. A
little search found one going on in a due northerly
direction, which, as we wanted to reach a place lying
due south, seemed discouraging, but we could find
no other, so with misgivings went forward. Mile
after mile was passed over slippery ground, pro-
ductive of many small disasters, and at last we
came out of the wood at a ranch on the edge oi
the plain, the first human habitation we had seen

Mud.

335

>ut one on
horse feed,
liis junction
a flat valley,
rested, while
of luxuriant
i clumps of
nd in places
or what the
e encintured
these yellow
irface of the
beyond low
ids of white
, not of very

mmenced the
ately pitching
n which how-
laged. Then
I synch which
,es having for
[But no harm
hed a small
m view. A
ue northerly
I a pb.ce lying
;re could find
Irvvard. Mile
[ground, pro-
at last we
the edge of
tre had seen

since leaving Cranbrook. The owner told us that
we had come right after all ; that this northerly
trail was the only way of compassing a huge slough,
but from this point it took a sharp bend in the desired
direction, and lay along the meadows all the way to
the Ferry.

He added that the weather was bad, but now was
the time that the Indian Summer usually began, and
that would make everything hum.

The muddy path wound about among the cotton
wood trees, over coarse rank grass, which however
the horses seemed to like. We imagined that this
unfortunate ranchman had in the early summer
thanked heaven that his hay was not left to the
mercy of Providence this year, for he had made a
goodly array of stacks. But he had omitted the
important detail of first drying his grass, and when
we passed there was nothing to be seen but rotting
masses of sodden evil-smelling herbage. We fear he
would have a hard struggle to bring his cattle through
the coming winter.

Two hours on the flat brought us to a creek
running between very high and steep clayey banks,
and with about two feet of tenacious mud at its bottom;
and by the time we had got over this with all our
horses and goods we were pretty well tired, and
stopped for the night. How the wretciied animals
accomplished the passage of that creek we never
knew, but it was a matter of the utmost surprise
that they did so at all ; probably despair lent them
wings. They all went down the bank in a sitting
posture, which is right enough for a descent ; but
it is impossible to sit up a bank, and very little use

5i(>

Mud.

v! .'til

to do so in the middle of a muddy river. Yet that is
what f/iat Roan tried to do.

We have certainly been lucky with our packs and
horses on the whole ; small accidents have, of course,
occurred, c.^. branches of trees tearing holes in the
mantles or disturbing a pack to such an extent as to
compel readjustment, but only once has the whole
thing come to grief. That was near Bull River
on our way up from Tobacco Plains, when old Plain's
pack for want of a proper lash-rope came off on a
steep hill-side, terrifying him so much that before
anything could be done he had badly torn several
packages in struggling to avoid a fall. That was
how the curry powder and tooth powder came to be
mixed up with the tea and flour, and all of them
together with a tin of vaseline to be trampled solidly
into the Skipper's spare shirt and our only tie. Jim,
who was on ahead with Spot junior, hastily hitched
the leading rope round a tree, and was just in time to
complete the rescue of Plain and his p.^'^k ; but in the
few minutes that he was away. Spot had also become
scared, twisted the rope round all his legs, and was
beginning to kick on a ledge about two feet wide
below which ran the Kootenay. That was a very
narrow escape for two horses and their loads, but we
have had nothing else sensational, and this muddy
" Boundary Creek " as it is called, was the really worse
place we have struck this side of Tobacco Plains, in
spite of its commonplace appearance.

Since we possessed a fourth horse the caravan has
been preceded by the Sorrel Nag, bestridden in the
morning by the Skipper, in the afternoon by Jim,
the rider being armed with a gun or rifle for the

Mtid.

Ill

Yet that is

ir packs and
'c, of course,
holes in the
extent as to
IS the whole
Bull River
:n old Plain's
ime off on a
I that before
torn several
1. That was
r came to be
I all of them
impled solidly
nly tie. Jim,
astily hitched
ust in time to
k ; but in the
also become
legs, and was
Iwo feet wide
was a very
loads, but we
this muddy
e really worst
;co Plains, in

caravan has

Iridden in the

loon by Jim,

rifle for the

collection of food, an axe to prepare poles for the
lodge, and a very large and heavy bludgeon, which is
humorously alluded to as " a whip."

Cardie made the thing we ride on, and having tried

Jim and the Sornl A'./j,^

it once, merely says he prefers to walk, and there is
an end of the matter. The Skipper does not say
anything, but from certain footprints and the very
small distance he forges ahead, there is a shrewd
suspicion abroad that, as soon as he gets out of sight,

338

Mud.

^f^^ '

he dismounts and leads the Nag rather than endure
the agonies of that old pack gear, denuded of its
horns and invested with a rug, which Cardie fondly
calls "the saddle," but which we with our superior
French education denominate a "sell." Jim alone,
careless of mortal injury to himself or the Sorrel,
wallops that lack-lustre animal along the trail at a
pace which often rises to the dignity of a gallop. It
is curious to notice the startling suddenness with
which the speed subsides to a dead stop if the rider
from weariness or any other cause ceases for a
moment to ply " the whip."

We have had some miserable camping grounds
since we left Cranbrook, but never aught like Boun-
dary Creek. The lodge was there erected on a bed
of decaying rushes, bits of sticks, mud, and dead
leaves deposited by the stream, which we thought
preferable to the only alternative site offered by the
deep wet swathes of grass

A wonderful place this was for geese, we sadly
reflected, as we longed for all the characteristics of
those unjustly despised birds. For nearly an hour
at dusk the air above us was aHve with one never-
ending flight, all gaggling their hardest, aiid unmind-
ful of the rifle-shots" which Cardie, standing in the
lodge-door, would keep pumping at them. How many
thousands passed over it is impossible to conjecture,
but very many, to say nothing of the ducks, which
being mute did not attract so much attention : and
the performance was repeated in the morning, only
the direction of the flight being reversed.

All night it rained dismally, and in the morning we
were inspirited by the spectacle of the most woe-

Mild.

339

han endure
luded of its
ardie fondly
3ur superior
Jim alone,
■ the Sorrel,
le trail at a
a gallop. It
Icnness with
p if the rider
ceases for a

ping grounds
ht like Boun-
ded on a bed
lud, and dead
:h we thought
offered by the

>ese, we sadly
faracteristics of
learly an hour
rith one never-
;, aiid unmind-
:'anding in the
How many
to conjecture,
ducks, which
[attention : and
morning, only

;d.

|he morning we

the most woe-

begone, mutilated caricature of a dog that the wide
world contains. His tail had been cut short off, and
so had one foot, and the wistful down-trodden expres-
sion of his appealing eyes was not to be borne. He
would not come near us, but we threw him some
breakfast, feeling all the time that a rifle-shot would
be a more merciful gift : and the wretched creature,
all starving as it was, could not believe in its own
good fortune ; but sat afar off until we dissembled
sufficiently to allow it to steal the scraps we meant
for it. Two days of that Jog would have been too
much for any of us, and when a short time afterwards,
having made a good meal on the grouse bones we left
for him, he again appeared slinking along near the
trail, we felt that murder would have to be done.
Happily the poor brute gave up following us after a
few miles.

The path wandered aimlessly over the sloppy
sodden muddows (we presume this is the right word
for a meadow whose chief product is mud), and
presently entered a forest and brought us once more
to the banks of the Kootenay, here a majestic river
of slow current, about 150 yards wide and with a
uniform depth we are told of about forty feet. The
big flats on which we have beeii travelling extend
from Bonner's Ferry to the Kootef^ay Lake, the finest
3heet of water in B, C. They aro, somewhere about
forty miles in length and two or three in width,
only the northern portion, however, being in British
[territory. These flats were undoubtedly at one time
included in the area of the big lake which still has
a length of about ninety miles, and have been formed
by the alluvial deposit from the river. The narrow-

340

Mud.

it. ';

sv '

V% .

ness of the outlet from the lake every year at the
time of the thaws backs up the water, causing the
whole of tiie plain to be flooded.

Steps are we believe being taken to widen the
narrow place, and thus prevent the recurrence of these
floods. If those eftbrts are successful there will
probably be no place west of the Rockies more
valuable than these bottom lands, the soil of which
seems to be a light mixture of clay and loam, sand-
wiched throughout by the annual layers of what is
practically leaf mould. The grass on them even
under the present circumstances grows with a luxuri-
ance unknown elsewhere ; and, so " we are informed
and believe " doeF the mosquito, but the same draining
operations which will improve the former will also
undoubtedly harass the latter, and in time perhaps
improve him also — away. Altogether we should
fancy there is a great future for this valley, unless
the engineering difficulties in the way of the drainage
scheme prove to be too great. As to this we express
no opinion, not having seen the outlet.

The lake itself must be one of the most wonderful
pieces of fishing water in the universe, if we are to
believe half we hear of it. From charr and trout to
the landlocked salmon and gigantic sturgeon, it has
an unequalled reputation for the size, number and
quality of its scaly inhabitants. Would we had had
opportunity to make trial of it, but time would not|
allow, and we were obliged to press on.

How the rain drizzled and dripped from the steam-
ing trees that miserable day ; but it was not till wel
were at length under shelter of our friendly lodgel
near a little duck-haunted lake, that we found whati

Mud.

341

year at the
causing the

widen the
rence of these
ul there will
lockies more
soil of which
d loam, sand-
;rs of what is
)n them even

with a luxuri-
e are informed

1 same draining
rmer will also
I time perhaps
ler we should

valley, unless
|of the drainage
his we express

lost wonderful
if we are to
Irr and trout to
Iturgeon, it has
|e, number and
lild we had had
[ime would nol|

from the steam-
[was not till wel
friendly lodgel
|we found what!

B. C. really could do in the way of bad weather
when she tried.

For two days and nights it pelted and poured,
while the wind shrieked through the branches and
Happed the ears of our lodge thunderously overhead,
keeping us in terror lest wc should suddenly see our
beloved home whisked away and deposited in the
middle of the lake. It is hard to say what more it
could have done, unless it had rained blizzards and
frozen them into thunderbolts as llu y fell, so varied
and so finished was the performance ; but on the
third day it really was finished, md once more we
urged upon our wild career.

A?. Cardie remarked: — "This B. C. weather goes
by fits and starts : it gave us fits yesterday and lets
us start to-day." In spite of this flippancy, he was
not on the whole very genial, owing to a slight mis-
fortune. His boots being very wet had been hung
up from one of the poles, to dry in the heat of the
fire. Unluckily the high wind drove the rain all
night in that direction, through the slightly open
chimney, and in the morning when Cardie pulled on
his first boot with a jerk, there was a splash and a
fountain of water in all directions, and both of them
were found to be about half full of rain.

He was a little touchy all that day, especially when
anyone " hoped his feet were not damp, because that
would be dangerous in this climate," or made any
similar kind inquiry ; and some of his replies wfcrc
conceived in the worst possible taste, and with an
absence of gratitude that was positively sickening.

( 342 )

CHAPTER XXXI

THE FLAT BOWS.

} !

A Flatbovv (or Lower Kootenay) Indian arrived tu
breakfast this morning and stayed with us a long
time. He was a pleasant kind of fellow, rather
starved in appearance (this, however, was only
appearance, as we found he was the Croesus of his
tribe), and not dressed with that gorgeous splendour
which marked his cousins the Horse Kootenays.

Breakfast over, this treacherous savage gave us
quite a turn by making a long speech ending un-
mistakably with the ominous words, " Income tax."
To gain time in these distressing circumstances we
got him to repeat it, and there could be no doubt of
it ; he was the tax collector, and wanted us to pay-
In vain we assured him that we could not and would
not do any such thing ; that we had left England
chiefly because there we had more tax than income;
we explained to him that the great medicine man ot]
the palefaces had promised to abolish it a matter o:
fourteen years ago, and therefore in all true believers
minds it had already ceased to exist ; we tried
compromise, if, for instance, he had such a thing a
a poor-rate or a gas-meter about him ; but no, tha
persistent redskin went on with his ceaseless refrain,
" Income tax, come tax, come tax." At last in dt

The Flatbows.

4"»

spair we told him that the Grand Old Tyee was
coming along the trail just behind us with a pack
horse loaded with post-cards, and would infallibly
make a long speech explaining that he was himself
indirectly of Flatbow descent (through the Longbows),
and then and not till then that wild man arose and
lied with a howl of dismay.

An individual has since tried to persuade us that

dian arrived to
with us a long
[ fellow, rather
;ver, was only
I CrcESUS of his
geous splendour
Kootcnays.
1 savage gave U5
lech ending un-
<' Income tax."
ircumstances we
, be no doubt ot
nted us to pay.
Id not and wouldl
lad left England
ax than income I
medicine man otj
sh it a matter of
all true believers

:ist ; we

tried

such a thing a
im; but no, thai
]ceascless refraiii
At last in del

&#^M*^M;

.1 l-'Litboii.' f.'uiiiin — I.n-i'cr k'oott-n,iy Rircr.

kuni tax is Chinook jargon, and merely means "Do
you understand ? " but we know better, and are con-
vinced that nothing but our presence of mind and
fertility of resource saved us from having our lodge
assessed under Schedule A, ourselves as occupiers
under B, and our rifles and other goods under I), in
a Flatbow Budget.

We discovered a place wliere several of these

Tmw

544

T/ie Flatbows.

■ 1l

Indians and their families were living, and inspected
their lodges and canoes. The latter are unique
among the boats of the world. They are formed of
one sheet of pine bark (the white pine, we believe,
but are not sure) ; this is stripped off the tree to the
necessary length, turned inside out, and sewn into
the shape shown in the sketch, the knot holes, if
any, being caulked with gum, and the sharp bow and
stern faced with a cutwater of firwood. The gun-
wale is made of a strip of birch bark, about four
inches broad, sewn to the edge of tlie pine, and
strengthened at the top with a piece of fir. The
interior is stiffened with numerous ribs running the
whole width of the pine bark, while a few of them
arc carried right across the birch bark as well, and
joined to the gunwale piece.

The paddle is not unlike the ordinary Canadian
one, but sharp at the handle end. The canoes vary
in length, a common size being about eleven feet
along the keel, seven between perpendiculars, re-
versing the ordinary shape of most craft. They
are very light, one this size weighing about fifty
pounds, but stronger, neater, and swifter than a
birch bark.

The Flatbows are, though professedly' converted
to Christianity, a very primitive race. All summer
they wear nothing but a rag round their middle,
supplemented in winter by a blanket. They spend
nearly all their time on the water in these canoes,
which they manage with great skill. Curiously
enough they do not appear to guide them by that
turn of the paddle used in the other model : when
paddling, even if both sides of the boat are manned

The Flalbows.

345

and inspected
- are unique
are formed of
2, we believe,
le tree to the
nd sewn into
knot holes, if
sharp bow and
d. The gun-
•k, about four
the pine, and
: of fir. The
)S running the
1 few of them
rk as well, and

nary Canadian
he canoes vary
ut eleven feet
endiculars, re-
craft. They
|ng about fifty
wifter than a

^dly converted
All summer
their middle,
They spend
these canoes,
II. Curiously
them by that
model : when
it are manned

they regularly change the paddles from right to left
at every three or four strokes, accompanying the
action with a song which, with the gleam of the
flashing wood as it is waved through the air, has a
pretty effect, appealing at once to eye and ear. Out
of the water the canoes are treated with great care,
being laid bottom upward in a sheltered place upon
horizontal pieces of wood secured at one end by being
thrust into the steep bank, and supported at the other
by forked upright sticks.

This group of Indians seemed to be very poor ;
they were living in lodges which had no roofs to
them, but only dados made of plaited rushes. Now
a dado is a thing we consider necessary at home,
but a house all dado and nothing but dado would, we
fear, be likely to make even Oscar wild, though to be
sure in this inclement weather they would be pretty
certain to have a freeze as well.

" Infelix Dado, nunc tc facta inipia tangunt,"

quoted our poet (he said it came out of the yEneid),
when he heard that the truly aesthetic state of their
homes arose from the gambling propensities of this
unhappy tribe. They had spent about a month (when
they ought to have been fishing and shooting) in
games of chance with a band of marauders known
as Calispel Indians, who live about fifty miles
away, and dropped in for a friendly rivalry in the
athletic sports of draw-poker, the three card trick,
and another game which appears to be identical with
Coddam.

This last is the most popular form of commercial

n^^w^

< 1

346

T/ie Flatbows.

enterprise, and is played by about six or eight men
standing opposite to each other in two equal parties,
one of which holds a small object, which is rapidly
passed from hand to hand, the other party guessing
at a given moment where it lies concealed. One
night which we passed within hearing of a large camp
this intellectual game was going on till the early
morning, accompanied by the sounds of a curious
chorus, which rose and fell with monotonous regula-
rity, swelling into excited yells at intervals, and which
no doubt corresponded to the " Jack's up ! Jack's
down ! Fat Jack's in the boneyard ! " of its English
counterpart.

The Calispels, having the advantage of living near
the civilising influences of railway stations and
whiskey saloons, had come over here with their supe-
rior education, and spoiled the Egyptians with a ven-
geance. The miserable wretches had literally not a
rag to their backs, or a covering to their tepees, and
were living in what we should call abject misery.
Quite a short time before they had been pretty well
off, and now only one of them seemed to have any
canoes left, and these he was willing to sell for £2
each, about half what they usaally obtain for the few
that are sold.

This man had either been luckier or more cautious
in his gambling than his fellows, for he possessed some
curious boxes, made of birch wood and bark, and
adorned with paint. He had also a board about 2^
feet long, covered and ornamented with leather cut in
tags and scallops. On such a board as this the baby
of the family is strapped and laced, the whole con-
trivance being then hung on the mother's back.

The Flaibows.

347

or eight men
equal parties,
ich is rapidly
arty guessing
cealed. One

a large camp
till the early

of a curious
;onous regula-
rs, and which
s up! Jack's
of its English

of living near
stations and
ith their supe-
is with a ven-
literally not a
ir tepees, and
|abject misery,
en pretty well
to have any
,o sell for £2
in for the few

more cautious
lossessed some
Ind bark, and
|oard about 2\
leather cut in
this the baby
le whole fon-
t's back.

For food they had some kind of a hairy vegetable
which the children appeared to eat raw with avidity :
it tasted to us like a pretty poor potato, but with all
the indigestibility of that tuber in its uncooked atate.
The only other eatable we saw was a cake of some
kind of berries, dried and compressed into a black
looking mass, like very inferior currants mixed with
dirt in equal proportions.

Altogether the wretched Flatbows were much to be
pitied, and " corraled our sympathy " the more readily
because several of them could and did express
something that was evidently thanks. One of them
begged for some bread for a sick child which he said
would " sick papoose mamook something or other,"
but whether that meant it would " make it well " or
"make it a poultice" we were uncertain.

We presented these poor people with a pack of
marked cards, the rules of Baccarat, and a bag full
of Hanover Jacks, and trust that with these aids
they will speedily regain that material prosperity
which has been wrested from them by the ingenious
Calispels.

Our road for another day lay along the same sort
of broad meadow-flats as before, but every mile
brought us into worse ground for travelling over ;
swamps and bottomless creeks being very frequent.
In one place Jim, who was riding in front, got into a
deep bog, from which he only extricated lu'mself and
the sorrel nag with great difficulty. He then built a
small fence across the track, and placed a note on it
for the others, so that they might avoid the same fate.
Late at night they arrived in camp, with two of the
packs and horses covered with slimy mud and their

' -!|' J

348

The Flatbows.

own tempers no better, and called him " anything but
a gentleman " for not warning them of the bog. He
said, " Didn't you see the note I left ? " " Yes,"
sneered Cardie ; " and if the horses could read I dare-
say they'd have kept out of it." " I suppose they can
read a post and rails ? " And after a little more
unamiability it was discovered that Cardie had
devoted himself with such energy to pulling down the

^il

B/vSJ

Yellow Pine — Lower Kooteitay I 'alley.

fence, and abusing the imaginary obstructionist who
had put it up, that he had had no time to look at the
note until Spot and thai Roan had got up to their
necks in the morass, and they and their packs had had
the narrowest escape from a muddy grave.

A large flock of waxwings, with their soft yet
brilliant plumage and handsome crests, was well worth
seeing, in fact the pleasantest incident of this portion
of the journey. Here too, at a place where the trail

The Flatboivs.

349

mything but
ic bog. He
? " " Yes,"
read I dare-
lose they can
I little more
Cardie had
ing down the

v^^vw

lictionist who

[o look at the
up to their

lacks had had

le.

|ieir soft yet

s well worth

this portion

lere the trail

approached the very brink of the river, were the finest
Giant Cedars we have passed, their huge roots
radiating from the base of each tree with almost
mathematical regularity and symmetry. Another
extraordinary sight was a trcmencfcus yellow pine
which grew just at the edge of a sandy terrace. The
soil had by some means been washed out for a depth
of about three feet underneath it, leaving exposed the
roots, which all struck straight down into the ground,
thus affording the spectacle of a tree supported on a
number of vertical columns about four inches in
diameter.

Wc camped at the close of this unhappy day on
the top of a grass-covered rock, the only available
place above the slop and slush of the flat. This site
sloped so steeply that we were obliged to make ledges
for the different beds and lor the fire, the upper berth
being two feet above the level of the lower. All that
stormy night we lay in mortal dread that the lodge
would be blown off the rock, and we and all our
possessions hurled into the watery bog, there to
grovel with the remains of the fire. There can be
no doubt that the conical form of a tepee is well
adapted to resist wind, and we never suffered from
the most boisterous gusts.

In the morning several Flatbows arrived from a
large camp hard by ; one of them was understood to
remark that the Indian Summer had now arrived, and
was proceeding to ask us how we liked it, when a
look in our eyes warned him to desist, and with a
yell of terror he and his gang precipitated themselves
off the rock into the Serbonian abyss below, and, we
believe, escaped. During the last three days we have

350

T/ie Flatbows,

a-'

1 1

r- r^

vlf!

Ill]

registered a vow to kill the next man who mentions
the Indian Summer to us ; and we shall not kill him
pleasantly either. We shall just make him walk
about in the Indian Summer with Indian Sum.mer
clothes on ; it will not be as lingering a death as we
should like, but it will be very very painful for the
short time it lasts. We have no use for Indian
Summers any more, and begin to have a faint
glimmering of what that Wyoming cowboy meant,
whom we heard saying : "I shrl' bring my cattle
and winter here next spring."

Spot and Plain took it into their heads to go for
an independent ramble while we, like cormorants,
were perched on this desolate rock ; and though the
whole of the vast plain was spread out before us,
nothing could be seen of them with the naked eye.
Cardie hunted about among the fragmentary shirts
and pieces of boot and other ruins in his bag, and at
last produced what we thought to be an old trombone,
and proudly said, " I can find them with this telescope."
Then having straightened the thing over his knee and
got the rest of the party to hold its rattling joints
together while he aimed it at the distant horizon, he
announced that he detected the errant steeds afar off,
and finally persuaded his brother to go forth on the
sorry nag and pursue them. Accordingly that most
uncomfortable saddle was adjusted, and Jim, with
some whacks of " the whip," which made the nag
sorrier than ever, went out at a hand-gallop to pick
his way to that spot on the plain where the two
horses were. How or why in their hobbled condition
they had made an excursion four miles from camp we
never knew, unless as some one suggested they had

who mentions
ill not kill him
ike him walk
idian Sum.mer
a death as we
•ainful for the
se for Indian
have a faint
Dwboy meant,
ng my cattle

ds to go for
^ cormorants,
id though the
ut before us,
e naked eye.
entary shirts
s bag, and at
)ld trombone,
lis telescope."

his knee and
attling joints
; horizon, he
eeds afar off,

forth on the
:Iy that most
d Jim, with
ade the nag
Hop to pick
sre the two
ed condition
om camp we
ed they had

The Flat bows. -,-j

seen then, doi^ • "but 7h "T'"" "^ ""^ "''"

(or as he calls if "jaded "to „ ?• '°° ""'--"""^^'-s,

jaaed ) to mention the fact.

•w-

( 352 )

CHAPTER XXXII.

DICK FRY'S.

'If,,

The Rock was our last camp in the broad bottom
lands, and from there we turned once more into
drier forest country, a short walk bringing us to the
much talked-of Bonner's Ferry, or in the vulgar
tongue, Dick Fry's. Here was a store, and several
wooden buildings, with the usual gang of loafers red
and white, and a rope ferry similar to the one near
Cranbrook.

These Indians had adorned their crownless head-
gear with the tails and in some instances whole skins
of ermines, which created the impression that they
kept ferrets in their hats, an illusion which a nearer
approach to them tended to increase in strength.
[Yes, that seems to Le exactly the right expression.]

The whites were not much different from others
we have met : they all seemed to be here on the same
errand, prospecting or in some other way making
a business of the newly found mines near the Kootenay
Lake, which at present are the sensation of the
country. We saw some large pieces of the ore
brought from there, and the reports were that it was
being found in enormous quantities, chiefly galena of
a quality particularly rich in silver ; but the mines
themselves we had not time to visit. There 'was

Dick Fry s.

broad bottom
ice more into
ging us to the
in the vulgar
•e, and several
r of loafers red
D the one near

rownless head-
es whole skins
Ision that they
hich a nearer
in strength,
expression.]
t from others
ire on the same
way making
|r the Kootenay
sation of the
s of the ore
re that it was
iefly galena of
Ibut the mines
There 'was

evidently to be a big boom in the district as soon
as the winter broke up.

We camped on the western bank of the river, at
the commencement of the waggon road wliich leads
from this place to Sandpoint on the Northern Pacific
Railway, Geese and swans were very numerous,
flocks of various kinds passing from north to south
ill constant succession, among them being some swans

D'uk Fry's Ferry,

with a most peculiar loud note, which we took to be
the Trumpeter Swan.

Fine weather at last set in, accompanied by intense
cold. Could this be the real Indian summer? was
the question that now agitated our minds. If so, an
ordinary Arctic winter is good enough for us.

On the 1 6th of November we started about mid-
Iday along the road, which was well chopped out and
[quite practicable for waggons, with bridges over the

354

Dick Frys.

■,<?;

: !(

ill

worst hollows or streams, corduroy work in wet
places, and very fair engineering along its whole
course.

Having bought a little bacon at Dick Fry's we
were not particularly anxious to get any birds, and
consequently a couple of fool hens, or rather what
Jim calls a fool hen and a full cock, immediately
flew up from the side of the road into a tree. First
there was an animated dispute as to whether they
should be shot. After one of the jury had been
threatened with death, a verdict of " Guilty " was
brought in, and ^he horses were with considerable
" woa"-ingand general confusion, brought to a stand-
still. Then it was discovered that the gun was
strapped on one pack, and the cartridges on another.
These having been produced, and the rust and dirt
sufficiently cleaned from the weapon to allow it to
be opened, one barrel was loaded. A steady aim
»vas taken, and after the trigger had been nearly
pulled off, some one noticed that the hammers were
at half-cock. This being rectified, and the aiming
ceremony again performed, the sportsman who had
loaded the right barrel fired the left one, with results
hardly worth mentioning. Again the solemn pointing
of the gun. and this time a missfire, and another.
Not until the third try with that cartridge did it go off,
though the effect was destructive to the fool hen when
it did. And throughout this entangled performance,
the full cock sat on his branch in an attitude of
wistful but patient attention, until his own turn
came.

He would be a good bird to introduce into England
to " teach the young idea to shoot " for which purpose

Dick Frys,

355

^ork in wet
g its whole

ck Fry's wc
ly birds, and
rather what
, immediately
1 tree. First
whether they
.iry had been
'Guilty" was
1 considerable
rht to a stand-
the gun was
res on another,
rust and dirt
to allow it to
A steady aim
d been nearly
hammers were
,nd the aiming
,man who had
le, with results
,olemn pointing
and another,
■e did it go ofi',
fool hen when
Id performance,
an attitude of
[his own turn

:e into England
which purpose

he would certainly surpass the sitting rabbit. The
latter, according to all reports fron our greatest
shots, can sometimes be killed, but iicvcr g;ithcrcd
except by the empl<\vment of two men and a ferret,
with a couj)lc of wheelbarrows and some spades and
l)ickaxes, which makes his pursuit very expensive.
Answers from correspondents, verified by a clergy-

1 1 ii,i,%vn A'oiid to Siindhoiui.

man and supported by statutory declarations, arc in-
vited to the question of whether an eatable rabbit sitting
at the mouth of a hole has ever really been shot dead ;
old does and babies not accepted as evidence.

There seems to be no reason why all the North
American timber-grouse should not easily live in the
more mountainous parts of the British Isles, where

Dick Frys,

the country is not unlike that of their native home.
With their present habits it is true they are not
valuable sporting birds, but in all probability a closer
acquaintance with mankind and dog-kind than they
now possess, would soon alter their ideas, and they
would in time become as shy as blackgame, to which
as food the fool birds at any rate are superior. All
of them would make handsome additions to a bag,
and even if thej' choose to preserve their old device of
flying into a tree and there waiting to be shot at,
the " chasse " could be conducted with a couple
of spaniels and a rook rifle, and would be good
fun by way of a change from the ordinary routine
of a Scotch shooting. " •

The waggon road, which is about thirty-five miles
long, wanders all the time through splendid forests,
varied by patches of burnt timber and occasional
rivers, lakes, and bits of prairie, the latter very
scarce. The " cold snap " which had come on
continued all the time, and we had the thermometer
inside the lodge down to 14° before the fire was lit,
the blankets being covered with ice where our breath
froze upon them. One night we camped near a
creek running into the so-called Pack River, and here
the burnt forest, like that in the Sinclair Pass,
had the property of being fire-proof. We had the
greatest difficulty in getting anything that would
make a decent blaze, which in the n^'ddle of a few
billion trees seemed unreasonable —

Timber, timber, everywhere .

Whichever way we turn ; •

Firewood, firewood, lots of it,

But divil a bit will burn. \ >.

Dick Frfs.

.57

lative home,
hey are not
ility a closer
id than they
las, and they
me, to which
Liperior. All
ns to a bag,
old device of
3 be shot at,
ith a couple
)uld be good
iinary routine

lirty-five miles
(lendid forests,
nd occasional
,e latter very
ad come on
e thermometer
|he fire was lit,
|:ere our breath
Lmped near a
iver, and here
Sinclair Pass,
We had the
ig that would
tddle of a few

It was rather melancholy work trudging along this
comparatively civilised path, and feeling that each
step brought us nearer to all the restraining rules
and regulations of dress and behaviour from which
we have so long been free, and being free, have been
happy. But it had to be faced, and one morning
the lodge was pitched by a little brook, in a pretty
grassy valley libelled under the name of Mud Slough.
Opposite to our door rose the tall gaunt framework
of a huge trestle viaduct, across which twice a day
rushed a brutal train.

The first of these to our unaccustomed gaze seemed
to dash into view and vanish with amazing speed and
flurry of noise and vapour ; and the Skipper with his
mouth wide open as long as it was in sight murmured,
" Why, it goes past just like the teeth of a comb, so
to speak."

There was a little station here called Kootenay,
guiltless of booking office, waiting-room, or in fact
anything but a platform and a name : and the great
city of Sandpoint was understood to be five miles
away. We made an expedition to this metropolis
the morning of our arrival at Mud Slough. Cardie
and Jim went to the Deepo about ten minutes before
the train was due. [If the Amjricans choose to
pronounce a French word in their way, they cannot
grumble at us for spelling it as they pronounce it].
Presently up came a man with a mail bag, which lie
hung on the projecting arm of a post close to the
track. He promised to stop the train for us ; and
then sat down and chewed and chattered for a couple
rf hc'jrs. At the end of that time he grew tired (as
were we), yawned, and "guessed he'd quit," which he

358

Dic^ Fiys,

did, turning round to shout to us : — " If that thing
come along, just wave your arms at it so " (demon-
strating the approved method), " and I reckon it'll
stop." And there we were left alone in the wilder-
ness in sole charge of the U. S. mails, which however
did not look worth robbing. . ■

We sat an hour longer and watched that most
amusing of all birds, the black-headed jay, with his
wicked e^'e and wiry jerking hop, a^ he patrolled the
platform, inspecting the various objects of interest
thereon with the most knowing air of worldly
wisdom.

By-and-by came another man sauntering along
the railway track, with his eyes on the ground, as
though inspecting the sleepers, or " ties " as they are
called. He strolled up to us, and remarked with a
discontented air, as of one whose mind is filled with
resentment for an undeserved injury, "This is the
somethinger somethingest rp'lway / ever struck."

The despondent passengers, who had now been
waiting nearly three hours for the train, cordially
echoed his sentiments, but before they could express
their concurrence he went on, " I only want a dozen
spikes to finish my stable, and darn me if I hain't
walked half a mile and only found four loose ones.
Wal, I guess I've got to go till I do get them any-
way. Yes, S/r." And with that he departed up the
track still searching for his missing stable fittings.

Spikes, be it understood, are the American equiva-
lent for our chairs and wedges ; the lines out here
being all made with a flat flanged base, and held
down by hooked spikes, which are driven into the
ties until the hooks grip the edges of the flange.

Dick Frys.

359

• that thing
o" (demon-
reckon it'll
the wilder-
ich however

d that most
ay, with his
patrolled the
i of interest
of worldly

itering along
[C ground, as
" as they are
larked with a
is filled with
"This is the
struck."
ad now been
]ain, cordially
mild express
Iwant a dozen
e if I hain't
Ir loose ones,
t them any-
larted up the
,e fittings,
rican equi va-
nes out here
,se, and held
ven into the
If the flange.

America in many respects is by no means so free a
country as England, but in the matter of stable-
building it does appear to be untrammelled. When
we hear of a really good idea we are not too proud
to acknowledge it, and in these days of agricultural
depression at home, we recommend the use of railway
chairs for all purposes to which they may be adapted ;
and as the rails without the chairs would no longer be
much good for railway travelling, we should suggest
that they be utilised for fences.

Possibly, in deference to our old fashioned pre-
judices, it may be wise to collect them at hours when
other work is not going on, say between two and
three o'clock in the morning.

It is perhaps unnecessary to say anything about
American railway time keeping, but it is the fact that
we tried four times to catch a train to or from Sand-
point and never succeeded. Each time our patience
gave out before the end of the four hours, which was
the nearest approach to punctuality that happened
during our stay. When for the last time we were
walking the distance along the track, we could not
help feeling that if it were not for the name of the
thing, we might as well have done so without going
through the form of starting from the station.

There were several trestle bridges between Sand-
point and Kootenay, and these even in daylight are
not pleasant to walk over ; as the top is composed
simply of one pair of rails and their ties, with no
filling in between the latter, no parapet, and no space
at the side. The only possible means of escape if
you should happen to meet a train on one, is to climb
over the side down on to the "capping" of the main

Tm\

360

D/c/c Frys.

timbers, {i.e. the end of a beam about one foot by
eighteen inches in area), which occur every ten yards
or so along each side, a couple of feet below the top
of the bridge. The tics are laid at an inconveniently
short step apart, but nevertheless so far separated
that it is difficult at any time to walk on every
alternate one ; and on a pitch dark night, with the
wind blowing great guns, and the murmur of the
stream below and the occasional glint of its waters
between the timbers adding to one's nervousness, these
bridges are not unalloyed bliss.

We recommend old ladies always to go by the road,
even if there should not happen to be one, in preference
to walking along a railway-track which abounds in
trestle bridges.

The last time we returned from Sandpoint it was
late at night, and when about half way home a train
overtook us, its glaring head-light and deep-toned
whistle warning us of its approach, while for some
time after it had rattled noisily past we could see
its red light growing smaller and more faint in the
distance, till it disappeared round a bend.

We had safely reached the middle of the longest
bridge, when looking up for a moment, Jim caught
sight of that same red light which we had thought to
be well on its way to the Atlantic. One glance was
enough to show that for some reason or other it was
coming back again ; and it is believed that we made
the champion record for crossing trestle bridges. It
is curious what a difference night seems to make in
such matters. Ordinarily in the daytime we had
thought that bridge to be about 200 yards long, a
distance which on level ground we could cover in

Dick Frys.

361

)ne foot by
y ten yards
ilow the top
:onveniently
ir separated
k on every
ht, with the
•mur of the
)f its waters
usness, these

by the road,
in preference
I abounds in

dpoint it was
home a train
Id deep-toned
lile for some
i\'e could see
faint in the

about one minute (when in training), even without the
encouragement of an angry bull. Probably the night
air causes the timber to expand, for on this occasion it
had grown to an apparent length of about a mile and
a half. We crossed the last half, however, in less than
five seconds by stop watch.

It was too near a shave to be pleasant, for we were
not fifteen yards clear of it when the villainous train
thundered past, going backwards, and of course show-
ing no head-light, which was the reason we had failed
to notice it until so close to us.

Poor wild wanderers like us were evidently unfitted
to cope with the perils and delays of railway travelling,
so we thought it best to move our camp down to
Sandpoint. There we stayed a couple of days, to sell
the horses, buy a few necessaries, and make general
arrangements for the close of the expedition.

the longest
I, Jim caught

id thought to

^e glance was
other it was

Ihat we made
bridges. It

Is to make in
lime we had
fards long, a
luld cover in

( 362 )

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE N.P.R.

> i

Sandpoint is a quaint little churchless city on the
shores of the beautiful lake Pend d'Oreille, across
which the railway runs on a very long trestle viaduct.
Its only street is entirely occupied by the railway
track, and it consists of about a score of buildings of
various kinds, including a good sprinkling of general
stores and eating-houses ; at the latter of which they
provide the weary traveller with excellent food at one
shilling a meal, about the best and cheapest entertain-
ment we ever found. They had meat here, for the place
is just big enough to support that luxury, like some
of the small villages at home, where a cow is paraded
about until all its joints have been marked off with
chalk in the names of intending customers, and then
and not till then the animal is killed.

Among the inhabitants was a group of ardent Home
Rulers, the first we have seen ; their one argument,
which they insisted on firing at the " blawsted English-
men," being, " Why not give Ireland a show ? " We
are not much on politics, but we did know the answer
to this one. " Did you give the South a show over
here ? " Only one man attempted a reply, but as he

began, "Begorra ! an' we ought " he was promptly

pounced upon and worried by his own compatriots

j.t

The N.P.R.

till he looked like "the man who struck O'Hara," and
we were not further troubled.

Here we fell in with the Calispel tribe of Indians :
the wily gamblers who had so despoiled the poor
Flatbows. The contrast between the winners and
the losers was very marked. The latter we had left
shivering, half-clad in their dados ; and now here were
the victors, each dressed in several suits of the most

city on the
reille, across
estle viaduct.
■ the railway
buildings of
ng of general
3f which they
lit food at one
|)est entertain-
for the place
ry, like some
>w is paraded
rked off with
2rs. and then

Camp at Sand Point. Calispel Indians rijle-s/iootim^.

ardent Home
le argument,
3ted English-
low ? " We
V the answer
a show over
•, but as he
as promptly
compatriots

gorgeous and voluminous of trappings, swaggering
about as if the whole universe were theirs, and
enjo^'ing themselves amazingly. The Calispels are a
small tribe, only about lOO in number, but they have
powerful relatives and backers in some of the big
clans, who will not allow them to be eaten up by their
enemies. They bear an evil reputation as horse-
thieves, and certainly appear to do no work. Their
hands and feet are the smallest and most beautiful

364

JVie N.P.R.

■s

we ever saw, and their hair is plaited and painted in
an exceedingly lavish and intricate manner, with a
thick fore-lock in front, neat bands of crossed and
interlaced plaits on the crown and sides, and a heavy
wavy mane reaching far below the shoulders. They
are not good-looking, their mouths being so very bad
as to spoil every other good feature.

Several of them came to visit our camp, and stayed
a long time shooting and otherwise amusing them-
selves. These had many trousers of Gordon and
Macgregor tartan, and blankets innumerable ; and
were further adorned with rings, necklaces, and other
trinkets — in a word, they were very great swells
indeed. Dignity they had none ; all shouted and
laughed like a lot of schoolboys, jeering a bad shot
with great delight. Of course our rifles were strange
to them, but we expected better practice than they
managed to make.

The sale of the pack-train was a very difficult
affair to carry out. The Sandpointers of course
guessed that we wanted to get away, and horses
became a drug in the market. The nearest approach
we made to a deal was to barter Spot for a silver
turnip watch, a buckskin chain, and a very handsome
gold nugget ; but this came to nothing because its
owner would not guarantee the nugget to be genuine
all through.

Finally we let it be understood that Cardie had
made up his mind to settle here for the winter ; and
on the 22nd of November the Skipper and Jim went
to the Deepo, intending to leave by the west-bound
train. This train had been consistently not less than
four hours late every day hitherto ; it was therefore

it'::iir.iiii^:»^, .^'j-VjaiiB

d painted in
mer, with a
crossed and
and a heavy
ders. They
; so very bad

p, and stayed
iiising them-
Gordon and
lerable ; and
:es, and other
great swells
shouted and
g a bad shot
, were strange
ice than they

very difficult
;rs of course
and horses
|rest approach
for a silver
;ry handsome
because its
;o be genuine

Cardie had
winter ; and
id Jim went

west-bound

Inot less than

^as therefore

The N.P.R,

365

quite natural that this day it should actually have
been three hours before its time, and have departed
for the coast long before wc arrived on the scene.
We understood from the stationmaster, or " agent/'
as he is called, that certain alterations were being
made in the time tables, and the new system of
additional and accelerated trains had not got quite
into working order.

Presentl}' he sent to tell us that another " sudden "
train had been found somewhere, and was " coming
along right now," and that we were in great luck, as
it would take us straight to the coast by a quicker
Toute than the one we had missed.

Accordingly about 23 o'clock in came the lightning
express, which seemed to be an upstart and interloper
that no one knew anything about. It was really, we
supposed, the last remnant of the old troop of trains,
and had been belated and forgotten somewhere, and
not accounted for in the new time tables. And so
we steamed out of the station, leaving Cardie on the
platform surrounded by Calispels, and looking like a
very handsome one himself, with his tanned face and
the blanket clothing which, since we began to live k
rindien, he has thought fit to adopt.

Our little ruse in the horse-dealing line we heard
afterwards was most successful, and Cardie sold our
steeds with the greatest ease the next day, and
departed for his mountain home in Colorado.

The behaviour of the express we soon found to be
calculated with the utmost disregard for any one's
convenience, and we were told that it did not go to
Tacoma (our destination) at all, and that we must
change at three in the morning at a wretched junction

k'^:

1 ^ I

1 ! '

366

T/ie N.P.R.

where we should have to wait half a Jay. Moreover
the sleeping-car smelt like the inside of a parafine oil
cask ; and the porter, who seemed to be onl}' slightly
sober, was so distrait when we roused him from his
slumbers that we left him and his car, and retired
miserable to the ordinary one, where for two hours
we were most unhappy.

At one o'clock we came to Spokane Falls, which
seemed to be " no slouch of a city." A happy
thought seized us, and we left that ill-omened light-
ning train, which we believe to be still wandering
up and down the mountain grades of the N.P.R. ,
never reaching a terminus, but always stopping at
junctions, in a Vanderdeckeny sort of way.

At the Windsor House, Spokane Falls, we were
very comfortable ; though of course, as customary in
American hotels, we could get no food till breakfast
next day. When that hour arrived, it is only fair to
say they gave us as good a meal as any man may
hope for, and for each meal or bed they charged two
shillings, or eight shillings a day : for which we had
beautifully clean, neat rooms, all brilliantly lighted by
incandescent lamps. The whole of the town is plenti-
fully supplied with electricity from the falls of the
Spokane River, which are within five minutes' walk
of the hotel. It is a very thriving place to all appear-
ance, with many good buildings, and any amount of
ambitious work in road-making, bridge constructing,
and general " improvemei.ts " going on.

The falls are very fine — in fact, as the man who
kindly directed us to them said : " Yes, Sir, they
are considered to be the finest in the Continent,
except some quite in the \sast on the borders of

The NJ\R.

2>^7

Moreover

parafine oil

)nly slightly

im from his

and retired

r two hours

Falls, which
' A happy
mened light-
11 wandering
the N.P.R.,
stopping at

■y-

lis, we were
customary in
till breakfast
s only fair to
ny man may
charged two
hich we had
y lighted by
vvn is plenti-
falls of the
linutes' walk
;o all appear-
y amount of
onstructing,

le man w^ho
[s, Sir, they
Continent,
borders of

Canada, at a place called Niagara." Comparisons are
odious, so we merel}' say that the falls called Niagara
seem to us to be larger — say a hundred times or so
— and more beautiful than Spokane ; but that is only
our opinion, and does not detract from the merits of
the latter, which are real enough.

The intense cold had coated everything near the
river with a white icing from the spray, and singularly
lovely the trees and rocks looked, glistening under
the brilliant sun ; but like every other natural beauty
in this utilitarian home of liberty, the fall was be-
bridged, and saw-milled, and generally bedevilled,
until there were very few places whence a view could
be obtained unspoilt by some hideous erection of
planks, and piles, and advertisement boards. One
of the latter related to reaping machines, and ended
thus : —

" Recollect, we GUARANTEE every machine !

(GUARANTEE !

It is a simple word

But it has a devil of a meaning."

Spokane has already a great name for its flour,
and is altogether a most go-ahead and prosperous
place : to which its numerous large horses and good
carriages testify. These looked very strange to us,
so long accustomed to the little Cayuss horses and
ramshackle pack-gear of the country we had left.

Another attempt to catch the train at 14 o'clock
resulted in a much more easy capture than that of
yesterday, for the brilliant three-hours-early spurt
had died away, and the old plan of four-hours-late
been resumed. We wandered about, and read the

368

The N,P,R.

official notices posted up by the Railway Company
until we were in a thoroughly uncomfortable frame
of mind and body, and at 13 o'clock the agent in-
formed us that "She" would not be in until 17, so
we might go back to the hotel.

The following are two specimens of the inspiriting
literature provided : —

" Sink Hole, one mile west of Cabinet, is in bad condition.
Trains must not exceed six miles an hour over this place
under any circumstances.

" I understand trains are exceeding six miles an hour
around Hangman's Bluff. This must not be done, as it is
not safe."

i '.%

':A:-i

There are people who hold that the inhuman
barbarities of Indian warfare are things of the past.
What have those optimists to say to this ?

N.P.R.
IVarning.

"Any person attempting to ride on an Ironclad ticket
purchased from a Scalper or other irresponsible party will
be compelled to pay full first-class local fare, or will be put
off the train by the conductor.

" Passengers must purchase tickets of the regular autho-
rised agents of the Company if they desire to avoid trouble."

Good Heavens ! what is riding on a rail compared
with riding on an Ironclad ticket. Imagine the
sharpness of the edges and corners. And the indul-
gent tenderness which classifies that fiendish savage

y Company
■table frame
e agent in-
until 17, so

e inspiriting

Dad condition.
iver this place

miles an hour
3 done, as it is

the inhuman
1 of the past.

r •

The N.r.R.

ironclad ticket

5ible party will

or will be put

1 regular autho-
ivoid trouble."

|-ail compared
[Imagine the
id the indul-
Indish savage

the Scalper as " an irresponsible party " is, we think,
carried too far. Yet the nation which acknowledges
so openly the existence of these horrors expects to
be admitted into the first rank of civilisation. It is
all very well for them to say that these are technical
expressions, mere conventional signs as it were ; we
are* not to be taken in by such subterfuges, and
know that only our courageous demeanour brought
us safe away from this barbarous and benighted
region. Mark, too, the barefaced cynicism which can
associate in one sentence these diabolical cruelties
and the " payment of a local fare." We suspect that
this part of the notice is simply a blind ; and who
can say 'vhat nameless and revolting treatment is
concealed under the apparently innocent phrase " put
off the train by the conductor," and the further dark
allusion to all the terrors of the Middle Ages in the
last pregnant words, " if they wish to avoid trouble."
"If they wish to avoid trouble" forsooth! If they
wish to avoid being ridden on an Ironclad ticket,
scalped, chopped into little bits, and those little bits
put off the train by the conductor. That is how
we read this blood-curdling announcement ; and if
by this timely warning we enable any one to

" avoid trouble/' then Box and Cox are

satisfied.

At 17 the agent informed us that "She" had
unaccountably lost five hours, but would now come
to an anchor without fail at 22, and we might go
back to supper at the " Windsor," instead of stopping
to suffer here.

We arrived there just in time to hear this snatch
of conversation.

2 A

T/ie N.P.R.

"Yes, she lost her good name."

" How was that ? "

*' Had it cut on the handle of her umbrella."

And then another man chimed in with a story of
a Britisher who settled out here ; and would appear
on Sundays in a stove-pipe hat. The light-hearted
citizens testified their appreciation of this habit by
pouncing out from behind corners and other places
of vantage and bonneting the unfortunate wearer.
The first topper was soon reduced to pulp, but the
undaunted proprietor appeared next Sunday in a
lovely new one, and one of " the boys " marked his
prey, and went for it as the Britisher came out of
church. This was a tall man, who swung aloft his
hand and brought it flat down on the tile with
wonderful emphasis, while the populace yelled with
delight. The bonneter yelled also, but from a very
different cmse : for the worthy stickler for stove-
pipes had artfully inserted tin-tacks bjneath and
through the crown of his head-gear, in such wise
that they stood point upwards three-quarters of an
inch or so through the fluff, and if he now chooses
to keep his hat on through the service no one re-
mold strates.

A soldier was descanting to an admiring crowd
on the horrors of w\ir : the most terrible moment
of his life seemed to have been when the news was
brought to him of the burning (by accident) of a new
drill-shed. " When I heard," he said, with deep-
toned emotion, "of that lovely drill-shed being burnt,
I just wiltered." There was hardly :• dry eye round
him, as we all pictured to ourselves ihe heroic
bearing of the bronzed and bearded warrior in that

mbrella."
with a story of
i would appear
2 light-hearted

this habit by
d other places
tunate wearer.

pulp, but the

Sunday in a
; " marked his
' came out of
v'ung aloi't his
the tile with
:e yelled with
t from a very
er for stove-

bjneath and
in such wise
uarters of an

now chooses
:e no one re-

T/ie JV.PJt

— — ._ "^ T

dreadful crisis << m ~ ^

■ns'gnificant figures besWrfM k "^ deck-are

«s he receive/the tW; r /'''''' '"^" " ^'"^ring "

P-.-n-e. What; :,-S.°'H"':,"^'r" •''"^^^ ''<^
cannot say buf thV/ > ^ '" '*"' ''<= ^o it ? We

-are sati^, t Vo^eLr^''^^""''^ ^"' ^""^
have "just wilt^red " ~"''' ""^ S^"^"' bellow

miring crowd
rible moment
the news was
-nt) of a new
, with deep-
being burnt,
ry eye round
5 ihe heroic
irrior in that

^^mw

37^ )

CHAPTER XXXIV.

THE PACIFIC.

Once more at the Deepo, we were told that " She "
had contrived to lose another licur. ** But," our in-
formant consolingly added, " I guess she'll nicko that
up all right ; " and as we turned sadly away, ." ; ;rd,
sotto voce, " or lose another half day in trying."

But now came a good genius, who told us that
a sleeping-car was being prepared here for attach-
ment to the train when she should arrive, and we
might turn in if we liked. Ten minutes after that
news our miseries were forgotten till next morning ;
and at daybreak we awoke to find we had left the
forest land, and were running through rolling prairies,
with occasional glimpses of fine mountains far awa}'
on the horizon.

The most important result of the failure ■ ■
"suddenness" in our train was that we had nothing
to eat from dinner one night till 11.15 next morning,
when we pulled up at a little station in tbe foothills
of the Cascade Range for twenty minutes. How we
longed for the luxurious breakfast cars and reasona^^iv,
hours of the C.P.R., or our own comfortable and
well-cooked meals, as we hastily endeavoured to wo'^'
down enough in twenty minutes to provide for \ •
last seventeen and the next seven hours. We mauL

The Pacific.

o/o

that " She "
3ut," our in-
'11 mike that
ay, ^V'" h rd,
•ying."

told us that

e for attach-

live, and we

es after that

xt morning ;

had left the

lling prairies,

ins far away

failure • t
had nothing
kext morning,
the foothills
is. How we
jd reasoni^i-i^
ifortable and
iured to w" ^''
^vide for \i'
Wc Miau<^

for amateurs a fair at«-empt to perform the feat, one
which our American fellow-passengers seemed to have
no difficulty in executing within half the allotted time.

Soon we began the ascent of the range, which,
pending the completion of a long tunnel, is accom-
plished by what is called a " switchback " railway.
This contrivance is a series of zigzags, and has no
similarity to the intellectual and health-giving sport
ii«-f>ly introduced into England under the same name.

An engine is coupled to each end of the train, and
No. I pulls up the first grade, running at last into a
level bit of line with a stop at the end. Then No. 2
leads, a set of points guiding him into the next
section, and the train is hauled up to another stop at
a higlier level. Again the direction is reversed, and
No. I resumes his old position, and so on alternately
up to the top. There are four or five of these Z-like
inclines, and two wondeiful loops, like a couple of SS
joined together. From the highest of these you can
look down on to three other sections of your future
course, all in view at once at different levels below
you. The engineering is undoubtedly very clever —
more striking in its execution, as it seems to us,
than even the C.P.R.; but of course it must not be
forgotten that this sensational bit is a temporary cx-
^.edient only, and is not expected to be worked with
permanent success, as we believe its Canadian rival
will be.

There were eight inches of snow on the Cascade
summits, but wc soon left it behind, and ever as wc
nearcd the coast the signs of approaching winter
became less conspicuous.

The Cascades themselves at the crossing were not

Ml™

^ffi'

374

The Pacific.

remarkable for grandeur, but a beautiful object in
the landscape for many miles on the western side
was Mount Rainier, or Taconia as it is now often
called, a very lofty snow-covered peak, all the more
striking from its isolation. We are told that this
mountain, Mount Baker, Mount Adams, and two
others, are of volcanic origin, and have no connection
with or similarity to the other ranges of this part
of the world. They stand up in lonely majesty.

Mount Kainier (or Ttuonui), from the X.P.N,

their tops 14,000 feet above the sea, visible far
beyond the rest of the range which surrounds them.
And some say that even now the fires generally
supposed to be extinct are slumbering but a very
short distance from the daylight world, and that
adventurous searchers have penetrated into fissures
in them from which heat and sulphurous fumes have
speedily driven them.
• One equal instance of solitary grandeur came within

I object in
estern side
now often
,1 the more
1 that this
;, and two
) connection
)f this part
i\y majesty,

tik^

visible far

lounds them.

^s generally

Ibut a very

and that

iito tissures

fumes have

Icame within

T/w Pacific.

1 •» r

our ken. On the wooden walls of a shanty outside a
small village was inscribed in the largest letters just
this soul-stirring announcement —

DR. BLANK, LEADING PHYSICIAN.

That was all ; and the most unfeeling could not
but sorrow to think of that eminent professor of the
healing art, and brilliant exemplar of truthful modesty,
alone and uncared for within the four walls of his
log hut, while the giddy world went sweepinj^" by
with mocking laughter at the rate of nearly twenty
miles an hour in this Lightning Express.

About 1 8 o'clock we reached the Pacific Ocean
and pulled up on the wharf of Tacoma, which was
the last stopping-place before Japan. It is a good-
sized town tf growing propensities and beautifully
situated, and here we succeeded in snatching another
twenty minutes for food : that gulped, we embarked
in a steamer which was starting for Victoria.

There was a little unpacific motion in the waters
of the harbour, sufficient to give a long roll now
and then to a boat. A passenger who stepped
ashore from a steamer there just as we were going
on board ours turned to look at the vessel he had
quitted, and seeing its bulwarks about twenty feet
above his head, remarked, " Gee-whiz ! I must have
blooming long legs," or words to that effect.

Some enterprising builder has been introducing
the " flat " system of dwellings into Tacoma, and the
Skipper heard a native in the steamer explaining the
novelty to a fellow-traveller.

" You see," he said, *' they're good six-storied

!■]!!

H]i'

M:.

7/^

T/ie Pacific.

houses, and it's a very fair way of doing the job ;
for the first floor you pay about six dollars, for the
second four, the third two, and so on right up."

The other pondered a moment, and said —

" Then, I reckon for the fifth and sixth they pay
you to live in 'em. Wal, it's a 'tarnal cheap way of
doing things."

That gorgeously appointed and very comfortable
and well-managed boat the Olympian landed us at
Victoria early in the morning. Such a sight there
was when a herd of pigs resplendent in colours which
would make a rainbow feel dull were unshipped from
somewhere below, and a clear road was made for
them to rush past the custom-house officers, who
wanted to count them. There was a brief pause,
during which the verb Damn was conjugated with
great rapidity in several keys. Then a bar was
withdrawn, and a squealing, grunting, parti-coloured
streak of swinery went scuttering past the bewildered
officials, and was lost to sight in the street. One
turned to the other and said —

"Seventy-two. What did you make them ?"

" Make them ? " was the wrathful retort ; " who the
blazes could make anything of such things as those ?
Enough to give one </./."

Victoria is too well known by description to
need any remark from us. Our only observation
on it is that the cook of the Driard will have one
of the new Art peerages as soon as we are Prime
Ministers.

We stayed only two or three days, and had what
they call " a good time " with various friends, including
some whose acquaintance we had made in the wilder-

g the job;
irs, for the
; up.

,h they pay
leap way of

comfortable
nded us at

sight there
)lours which
hipped from
,s made for
>fficers, who
brief pause,
ugated with

a bar was

rti-coloured
bewildered

treet. One

Ihem?"

" who the
ts as those ?

scription to

observation

111 have one

are Prime

Id had what

|s, including

the wilder-

Thc Pacific,

0y Pm fm

0/ I

ness, and who were most hospitable here. One
evening we packed up all — a poor all — our belong-
ings, which have now dwindled down to some ragged
clothing, blankets, and an enormous wooden spoon.
This last treasure Jim purchased as an Indian curio,
with the idea of taking it home to his wife and
asserting that it was the only spoon he had had while
away from her.

It is dismal enough work waiting anywhere for a
steamer which is timed to start at 1.30 a.m., but when
as in this case she did not come in until 5.30, and
we had to sit in the Driard foodless and drinkless
all that time, we did feel very much injured. The
Princess Louise is hardly to be called a good boat ;
but we were thankful for anything, and turned in at 6
A.M. with feelings akin to tranquillity. By 9 o'clock
we were up and clamouring for breakfast, only to
be told that we ought to have been ready at 8.30,
and now we could have nothing. Even our meek
and submissive spirit revolted at this, and for a
brief period we scared the authorities of that vessel,
and finally did succeed in getting some biscuits and
coffee. And here our experience of the N.P.R.
served us well, for it had caused us to come provided
with a big luncheon basket containing all sorts of
food, and on this we and a couple of unfortunate
Englishmen who had been less prudent subsisted
until supper-time. These minor miseries are men-
tioned here, because to some people they are very
real and distressing. We are aware that the truo
hero scorns eating and drinking, and if he should
happen to want anj'thing, it is sure to be there. But
in American travel it is not so, and the wise who are

3/8

7 he Pacijic.

not heroes will do well to make themselves to some
extent independent of fortune in the matter of
victuals.

What little time our bad tempers allowed us to
spend in looking at the view from the steamer was
amply repaid. The Sound itself was lovely, with its
rocky shores and beautifully timbered islands ; and
the splendid ranges of the mainland, far as the eye
can reach, from the north down to the Olympians

Mount Baker, jrom the Sound.

and Mount Baker in the south, formed a scene un-
surpassed in the whole of our journeyings.

The train was waiting at Vancouver City, and
without any delay we were once more hurried off
in the luxurious cars of the C.P.R.

We were unlucky in passing through the much
talked of Fraser River Canyon at night, but perhaps
not so unlucky after all : for there was a full moon,
the ground was covered with snow, and the aspect of

es to some
matter of

)wed us to
jteamer was
sly, with its
slands ; and
as the eye
Olympians

la scene un-

City, and
hurried off

the much

)ut perhaps

full moon,

le aspect of

The Pacific.

this wild ravine, with the furious river below us, and
the weird effects of the brightly gleaming snow, black
shadows, and red glow of the engine fire, will never
be forgotten.

By daylight we were entering the Eagle Pass of
the Gold Range, the name commemorating the means
by which the often baffled explorers succeeded in
their search for a practicable route. They at last
followed the flight of an eagle into the mountains,
and found that it led them through a low defile, alon

A Smnv Ploiiglu CJ'.R.

which, without any extraordinary difficulty, the line
has been conducted.

Then by a long curved trestle bridge we crossed
the Columbia on its southward course, now for want
of water looking a ver}' poor starved thing, with
huge floes of ice dotting its surface. From that point
commenced the ascent along the foaming torrent of
the Illecillewaet to the Rogers Pass through the
Selkirks, where already the snow was l3'ing two feet
deep, and the huge snow ploughs (driven sometimes
by six or eight locomotives) had been at work. For
descriptions of the marvellous energy and skill which

;8o

TJie Pacific.

mark this part of the line out pre-eminently as the
railway triumph of the age, we refer the . ^ader to
abler pens than ours ; but the beauty of the surround-
ings we are fain to mention, for it is possible that it
never was seen to greater advantage than on the day
we passed.

Anything more lovely cannot be imagined, the
frosted trees glistening in their crystal panoply, the
torrent in most places covered with fantastic bergs of
whitened ice, and the huge black expanse of mountain
side coming so sheer down into the valley that the
snow could not lie save on ledges invisible from
below — all were magnificent. The blazing sun seemed
absolutely powerless to affect one particle of the spot-
less white ; no dripping from the trees, no sliding
from wet rocks, but there it all remained without
movement and without flaw. The perfection of the
picture is preserved by that extraordinary stillness
of the atmosphere which has already been noticed.
Even when the mercury was up towards 90° there
was no wind, and as the temperature falls so does the
wind, so that at 60° there was literally no wind at all,
and at freezing there was less, and at zero it began
to blow a vacuum, if the reader can understand what
that is. The writers cannot.

Our greatest pleasures have of course some wretched
drawback (which generally, by the way, is of larger
dimensions than the joy), and here this was duly pro-
vided in the shape of the snow-sheds, which for scores
and even hundreds of yards often box up the train,
right in the heart of what we feel confident is the gem
of the scenery. These snow-sheds are huge wooden
constructions, with a slanting lean-to roof, designed to

W'X

lincntly as the
the . ?ader to
' the surround-
possible that it
lan on the day

imagined, the
1 panoply, the
tastic bergs of
je of mountain
'alley that the
invisible from
ng sun seemed
le of the spot-
^s, no sliding
ained without
fection of the
nary stillness
been noticed,
'ds 90° there
Is so does the
'o wind at all,
zero it began
lerstand what

The Pacific.

381

erected on \\T ^ ' ''"^ ^''^'^'^^'' snow-shoots)

seem .0 Ive been n ''1 '"""' ^'"P^'"do"s works, and
and skill. '" '^""^" °"' «''■"> '"e greatest care

'-- lit' tTe ::r;tcr', r ;-- '^^

more into 0^0! i^rn w^"" "'" '""'" "'^h^^ °"ee
^^ our old Columbia va lev • rm«cn.i fK •

passed Donald, looking very bus; Z^T ""'"" '

workmen ahn„t • j • ^ "^"" ^" a'""'y oi'

Where weXe:":;;;t'-^"

goods. ^^ ^^ ''^^^^'^t our scattered

ome wretched
is of larger
vas duly pro-
ch for scores
up the train,
it is the gem
fiuge wooden
, designed to

( 3^2 )

CHAPTER XXXV.

EASTWARD HO/

GoLDKN in its winter aspect looked much colder and
not nearly so mosquitocy as when we last saw it, but
the Queen's Hotel remained the same, though a totally
new one had sprung up since we were here.

It appeared that quite recently a cargo of dynamite
had mysteriously disappeared, and after d'^igent but
fruitless search it had been decided " those

blamed pigs had eaten it," and consequently the
following notice was posted up on the walls of the
more important buildings in the city (i.e. the Queen's
Hotel and another shack) : —

^^i'

" Notice is hereby given that the Pigs of Golden City
have consumed 40 lbs. or more of dynamite. Parties are
therefore requested to refrain from pricking or otherwise
abusing tliem on pain of an explosion.

"By Order of the Mayor."

We have not read that anything has happened at
Golden since our departure, so conclude that the pig
of that country is a bomb-proof species.

Sunday is a very sober day in Eastern America,
and is ob.served in the most sanctimonious and dismal

Eastward Ho !

.V^3

colder and
: saw it, but
ugh a totally
re.

ot' dynamite
d'^igent but
" those
quently the
alls of the
the Queen's

Oolden City
Parties are
I or otherwise

Mayor."

lappened at
Ihat the pig

In America,
and dismal

fashion. The youths wash their faces, oil their hair,
and put on boiled shirt-fronts and shiny black coats :
many of them affecting prayer-boolcs and going to
church. In the Western cities this cannot be done,
because there are no churches, so the nearest thing
they can do is to put on their Sundayest clothes and
spend the day in the saloon. In one of the Eastern
towns we once saw our landlord walk to service with
his whole family, lie wore a beautiful frock coat like
that of the Rev. Stiggins, and paraded through the
streets with a huge cotton umbrella, and a look of
holy importance in his eye (only the look, not the
umbrella ; that was in somebody else's eye, as is the
manner of such things). The Sabbath was indeed a
marked day of rest there : there was no post, no
train, no shop open ; but it was whispered that this
outward repose led many of the inhabitants to retire
humbly to their own apartments, where they became
quietly and hopelessly intoxicated in the most respect-
able manner.

Having collected all the purple and fine linen which
had been left to await our return at Golden, we once
more took to the train, and enjoyed the splendour of
the Kicking Horse Pass in its winter dress.

Then for five days we fought our way eastward
against constantly increasing cold, the engine thickly
curtained with heavy sackcloth to guard its occu-
pants from the biting blast — itself and all its cars a
mass of ice and encrusted snow.

Near Lake Superior we were detained several hours
while the line was cleared of a block. This was not
caused by the snow, though it lay very deep here-
abouts, but arose from a belief in the oft refuted

Eastward IIo !

fallacy that it is practicable for two trains to pass
each other on one pair of rails. Result in this case,
two engines reduced to elementary molecules, but no
injury to human beings.

Considering all our difficulties we made wonderfully
good time, and ran into Toronto only one hour late,
sorry enDU5:h to lose all the comfort and freedom
from worry of " Honolulu " (the name of our car),
and the pleasant companions who liad travelled
with us.

People who only mark one for his nob at cribbage
are likely to get terribly taken in in this wicked world.
This is the only moral reflection we wtre induced to
make on the return journey ; and though it is of
general application, we commend it especially to the
most charming of all our fellow-travellers.

Settlers in this untamed country have to undergo
at present very serious discomforts on occasion. For
instance, the Colonel of the N.W.M, Police, v/ho jour-
neyed by our train for a few hours, told us of twc
young English ladies who were to arrive at a prairie
station that day. They were coming to join their
brothers, who were farming about 200 miles from the
railway. This distance they would have to traverse
in a coach ; and the brothers not being able to meet
them, they would be alone with eight or ten strange
men. They would have to travel for five days over
this dreadful flat, treeless, wind-swept prairie, with
thj thermometer at 35° below zero, and not a scrap of
anything in the world to be seen, except the coach
and the illimitable snow on all sides. The stopping-
places each night, he said, were merely one-roomed
log huts ; and though of course the roughest men in

I- ' «

Eastward Hoi

385

IS to pass

this case,

es, but no

^'onderfully
hour late,
id freedom
,f our car),
\ travelled

at cribbage

icked world.

induced to

igh it is of

cially to the

to undergo
^asion. For
e, v/ho jour-
US of two
at a prairie

join their
es from the
to traverse
ble to meet
ten strange
2 days over
.rairie, with
|t a scrap of

the coach
le stopping-

ne-roomed

St men in

this country are kindness and politeness itself to a
woman, one could not help pitying those two poor
English girls, so suddenly plunged into what must to
them seem an intolerable state of things.

We caught the Etruria in time to keep Christmas
at home. At the Liverpool custom-house we must
ask the reader to excuse us as we have our own
baggage to look after.

This simple account of our commonplace doings in
the West has been written in the belief that by it a
better idea can be formed of what life in the country
is really like, and what the facilities for travel, sport,
and farming are, than from any work which simply
aims at telling the reader like a dictionary all that
can be said op those subjects.

The general impression left on our minds is tliat
the climate of oui" part of B. C. has pretty much the
same advantages and disadvantages as England ; but
to judge from ourselves, its healthiness must be
extraordinary. The country is almost everywhere
beautiful, and in many ways most desirable as a
home. The drawbacks from a lady's point of view are
however considerable, and we should not advise any
woman to go out there who is not thoroughly able as
well as willing to rou^^h it, and to trust to her own
resources. For 3'oung unmarried men with capital
say of ^2000 to ^5000 we believe there arc great
chances. In the Kootenay valley t!iere are already
not a few Englishmen, and the jivailable good land
there is diminishing in area very rapidly. Both there
and in the Columbia valley there are still plenty of
spots worth taking up ; but a railway would change
that condition of affairs in a moment, and any one

2 B

386

Eastward Hoi

wishing to acquire land there has we should say no
time to lose.

On the other hand, it should be remembered that
our investigations have been necessarily hasty and
limited to one season of the year ; and our final
advice is to take no steps towards deciding on making
a home there without first seeing the country. The
completion of the C.P.R. has made this such an easy
task, that even if the would-be settler find nothing
to suit his ambitious taste, he will at least have a
delightful experience in seeing the only Pacific pro-
vince of the Dominion, and is to be envied if he
enjoy even half as much as we did a /amble in British
Columbia, amid all the charms which nature has
lavished upon her.

The fragrant shade of the forest,
The whispering sigh of the breeze,

The song of birds in the branches,
The song of the trees.

The billows of purple mountain,
And, bluer than sea nymphs' eyes.

The lake that lies in the valley.
And mirrors the skies.

The fall with its rainbows glancing
As it thunders down the steep,

The dart of the speckled troutie,
And the salmon's leap.

The deer trooping down '.o the spring-head,

The wild swan wliistling past,
And the eagle proudly roaring

Upborne on the blast.

hould say no

umbered that
y hasty and
nd our final
g on making
untry. The
iuch an easy
find nothing
east have a

Pacific pro-
envied if he
le in British

nature has

Eastward Ho !

The silvSy gleam !.f?r'' *"«•" '
A„j .t ■ " '^"'« moonlit waves
And the calm clear night. ^^"•

i^7

ead,

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