MULE-HUNTING EXPEDITION. 199 



CHAPTER VIII. 



JIULE-HUNTING EXPEDITION FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND TO SAN 



FRANCISCO THE ALMADEN QUICKSILVER MINES POISON-OAK AND 



ITS ANTIDOTE. 



THE Commission, in 18 CO, were to commence 

 the work of marking the boundary-line on the 

 eastern side of the Cascades. A large addition 

 to our staff of pack-mules being indispensable, 

 I was despatched to San Francisco to purchase 

 them; and instructed to rejoin the Commission, 

 as soon as practicable, at the Dalles, already 

 mentioned as a small town on the upper part of 

 the Columbia river. 



I introduce the journal of my mule-hunting 

 adventures at this part of the volume, as it 

 enables me to explain the systems of transport 

 and travelling resorted to in wild countries, 

 where roads and railways are unknown. I tran- 

 scribe my journal, the events of each day as 

 hastily recorded : 



Feb. 29$, I860. Left Esquimalt Harbour in 



