BOATING DOWN THE FRASER. 379 



nary Fraser River country ; but that to the east of 

 them a mixture of fine woods and fertile prairies, 

 abounding in game. On the banks of Smoky River, 

 one of the tributaries of Peace River, numerous 

 craters were observed, emitting dense volumes of 

 smoke and sulphurous gases from upwards of 

 • thirty funnel-shaped apertures, the size of ordinary 

 stove-pipes. The banks were in many parts 

 covered wdth a deposit of pure sulphur. On Tribe 

 or Nation River, another tributary, they found 

 slate-rock and quartz veins, and very good dig- 

 gings on some of the bars. 



The boat in which we embarked was a large, 

 strongly-built one, constructed on purpose for the 

 journey to Peace River. Forty passengers were 

 crowded into it, packed close as negroes in a slaver. 

 The day was very cold, and the snow fell heavily, 

 wetting us through before long ; and the pools of 

 " slush," which formed at the bottom of the boat, 

 made our feet ache again with cold. A little below 

 Quesnelle Mouth is a rather dangerous *'riffle," or 

 rapid, of lumpy water, where the w^hirlpool is said 

 to have sucked down canoes head foremost. We 

 shot this safely, although we shipped some w^ater, 

 and continued to run down tiie stream at a great 

 pace, until just afterpassingAlexandria,w^hen we stuck 

 fast on a shallow^ rapid. The boat could not be got 

 ofi* by any amount of pushing, and McBride called 

 for volunteers to jump overboard, and lighten the 

 boat. Five or six fellows at once responded, and as 

 the boat was still immovable, each took another on 



