FROM QUESNELLE TO WILLIAM* S CREEK. 361 



He invited us to his cabin — tlie only furnislied room 

 on board — and bringing out a box of cigars, and 

 ordering a whole decanter full of '^ brandy cocktail " 

 to be made at once, desired us to make ourselves 

 happy. Every quarter of an hour we were called 

 out by the nigger *' bar-keep " to have a drink with 

 the Captain and the "crowd," as the general company 

 is termed. A refusal would have been considered 

 grossly rude, and we had to exercise great ingenuity 

 in evading the continual invitations. The only 

 excuse allowed is that of having just had a meal, 

 for a Yankee always drinks on an empty stomach, 

 and never after eating ; and American manners and 

 customs rule in the mines. The steamer cost no 

 less than 75,000 dollars, or £15,000; the whole 

 of the machinery and boiler-plates having been 

 brought 200 miles on the backs of mules. 



At Quesnelle Mouth we slung our roll of blankets 

 on our backs, and started on foot for William's 

 Creek. The road was very rough, a narrow pack- 

 trail cut through the woods ; the stumps of the felled 

 trees were left in the ground, and the thick stratum 

 of mud in the spaces between was ploughed into 

 deep holes by the continual trampling of mules. 

 The ground had been frozen, and covered with 

 several inches of snow, but this had partially melted, 

 and rendered the surface greasy and slippery. We 

 stumbled about amongst the hardened mud-holes, 

 and our huge jack-boots soon blistered our feet so 

 dreadfully, that by the second day we were almost 

 disabled. Fortunately we picked up a pair of 



