186 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



broken here and there by solitary peaks or clustered mountains, their 

 summits always covered with ice and snow. To the far east were the 

 pure white peaks of the Five Virgins, their summits glistening under 

 the bright sun. Even the character of the vegetation had changed, 

 and the dense forests of somber firs, spruces, and cedars of the lower 

 river had given way to great cottonwoods and underbrush of hazel 

 and alder. 



In the afternoon we climbed a bluff near the river, from which 

 we could look off over a country that was wild and extremely 

 picturesque. To one side of us could be seen a great moun- 

 tain, its summit covered by a mighty glacier whose blue-white ice 

 gleamed and glistened in the sun. And there was no mistaking the 

 power of the sun that day; its warm rays being especially welcome 

 after some weeks of the cold, depressing gloom and fog of the coast. 



We were now really in the country of the Tsimshians, and every 

 few hours we drew up in front of some quiet, peaceful village, its 

 almost deserted cottages guarded by the totem poles of former days. 

 In succession we pass Meamskinesht, Kitwangah, and Kitzegukla, 

 with now and then a small salmon-fishing station. The villages 

 proved disappointing both in their smallness and modernness, and 

 none of them seemed worthy of any extended visit. From time to 

 time we passed great black patches in the forest, the result of ex- 

 tensive fires, sure signs that the rainy coast was far away. 



On Friday night we tied up to the bank within five miles of our 

 destination, but we had yet to pass Macintosh's Bar. That was ac- 

 complished on the following day, after eleven hours' hard work, and 

 by five o'clock we had reached " The Forks," or the junction of 

 the Skeena and Bulkley Rivers. Our course was to the left, up the 

 Skeena for half a mile, and in a few moments more we tied up in 

 front of the stockaded post of the Hudson Bay Company; we had 

 reached Hazelton. The region about us was " Dum-lak-an," " what 

 will be a good place," the home of the Tsimshians. 



Before 1870 the town was farther down the river, on the flat at 

 the junction of the Bulkley and Skeena Rivers. It has had addi- 

 tions to its population from Kis-pi-yeoux, and from villages down 

 the river. There are also to be numbered among the inhabitants the 

 Indian agent, Mr. Loring, the Hudson Bay representative, Mr. Sar- 

 gent, and his assistants, and Mr. Fields, the missionary. The Indian 

 population numbers about two hundred and seventy-five. The town 

 occupies a low, uneven plain, which, beginning at the water's edge, 

 extends back for a quarter of a mile, where it is hemmed in by a high 

 bluff on the face of the second river terrace. There are but few of 

 the old houses left and still fewer totem poles, and they are without 

 particular interest. Most prominent in the village is the warlike 



