190 



circumstances ; but all the party were in good health, and we 

 were joined by the canoes on the day following. Jasper's Lake 

 may be considered as the entrance to the Rocky Mountains. 

 It is about 8 or 9 miles in length, and 2 or 3 in breadth, 

 being, in fact, merely an expansion of the Red-Deer River. 

 The Hudson's Bay Company have built a hut here for the 

 accommodation of the person who takes charge of their 

 horses, which are used for crossing the Portage to the Col- 

 umbia ; but the boats, after discharging part of their cargo 

 at the head of the lake, proceed about 50 miles farther up 

 the river, where the Portage commences, to the Upper 

 House. The kindness of Lieut. Simpson, R. N., who was 

 at this time employed in surveying the country, gave me the 

 opportunity of ascertaining the latitude of the commence- 

 ment and termination of the Rocky Mountains Portage. 

 Jasper's House, or the beginning of the mountains, is in 53^ 

 18' 40" north latitude, U7" 38' 36" west longitude. The 

 commencement of the Portage 52° 43' 10" north, 117o 54' 

 46" west; the travelling distance he estimates at 54 miles. 

 The latitude of the west end of the Portage, at the Columbia, 

 is 52° 7' 10", longitude 118° 22' 30", and he calculates the 

 travellinij distance at 97 miles. 



The- height of one of the mountains, taken from the com- 

 mencement of the Portage, Lieut. Simpson reckons at 5,900 

 feet above its apparent base, and he thinks that the altitude 

 of the Rocky Mountains may be stated at about 16,000 feet 

 above the level of the sea. The first indication which the 

 vegetation afforded of our approach to the mountains, was 

 the Arbutus alpina and Dryas Drimimotidii ; the latter, with 

 a beautiful yellow flower, was growing upon the gravelly 

 battures formed by one of the mountain rivulets : Dryas 

 tenella was also there, and an Eriogonum of considerable 

 beauty. I also observed Splachnum angiistatuni and S. 

 mnioides, growing commonly on the animal tracks in the 

 woods, principally on the dung of the wolf or fox. I after- 

 wards ascertained, though too late to profit by the informa- 

 tion, that two of the largest and finest mosses that are known, 

 the Splachnum ruhrum and S. luteum, may be found in the 



