324 THE NORTH-WEST PASSAGE BY LAND. 



people of the Fort were up, and breakfasting with 

 Mr. and Mrs. Assiniboine, who dwelt in the tent hard 

 by, secretly visiting them again between breakfast 

 and dinner, dinner and supper. We rested from 

 eating only from a sense of repletion, not from any 

 decrease of appetite. Under this active treatment 

 our meagre bodies rapidly w^axed gross, and three 

 weeks afterwards Cheadle made the astounding dis- 

 covery that he had gained forty-one pounds since his 

 arrival at Kamloops ! 



The Hudson's Bay Company's Fort at KamJoops 

 is situated on the south bank of the Thompson, a 

 few hundred yards below the junction of the northern 

 with the southern branch. Opposite the Fort the two 

 streams flow distinct in a common channel, the 

 turbid, glacier-fed river from the north contrasting 

 with the limpid waters of the other, like the Missouri 

 after its junction with the Mississippi. The Shush- 

 wap branch of the Thompson coming from the south 

 turns to the west, to enter the Shushwap lake, and 

 flows in the same direction to Kamloops, below 

 which its waters are rendered muddy by the accession 

 of the northern branch. Seven miles below, the river 

 expands into Lake Kamloops, and issues from thence 

 again clear and pellucid, to be lost at Lytton in the 

 muddy and turbulent Fraser. 



The country round Kamloops is of the Californian 

 character before described. Rolling hills, covered 

 ■\^dth bunch-grass and scattered pines, rise in every 

 direction. The pasturage is very rich and extensive, 

 and large bands of horses, herds of cattle, and flocks 



