EXPEDITIONS TO PACIFIC. 107 



Ou June 1st, five days after they started, the river narrowed to a canyon, possibly 

 the least dangerous of a long series which lay before them. In the first canyon they lost 

 one of their three canoes. On the .5th, the river contracted to a width of not over thirty 

 yards between precipices, the water " tiirbulent noisy and awful to behold." They made 

 a portage of a mile over most difficult ground, leaving the men harassed by fatigue. On 

 the 6th, finding a cascade and whirlpool, hemmed in by huge rocks, to avoid portaging, 

 they lightened the canoes and ran the rapids. On the 9th " the channel contracts to 

 about forty yards, and is enclosed by two precipices of immense height, which, bending 

 towards each other, make it narrower above than below. The water which rolls down 

 this extraordinary passage in tumultuous waves, and with great velocity, had a frightful 

 appearance. However, it being absolutely impossible to carry the canoes by laud, all 

 hands without hesitation embarked as it were a corps perdu upon the mercy of the awful 



tide Skimming along as fast as lightning, the crews, cool and determined, 



followed each other in awful silence, and when we arrived at the end, we stood gazing 

 at each other in silent congratulation on our narrow escape from total destruction." 



Again on the same day, the journal reads : " This afternoon the rapids were very bad ; 

 two in particular were worse, if possible, than any we had hitherto met with, being a 

 continual series of cascades, intercepted with rocks and bounded by precipices and 

 mountains that seemed at times to have no end." At last they found the navigation 

 wholly impracticable, while the precipitous river sides had a most forbidding aspect. Even 

 men of their nerve could proceed no further on the foaming stream. On the 10th they were 

 compelled to abandon the canoes and many articles not absolutely required. They started 

 to travel the rugged banks on foot, each with a load of eighty pounds. To describe the 

 walking would baffie description : only those who know the river can imagine what these 

 travellers endured, passing along the declivity of mountains, ascending and descending 

 rugged rocks, crossing ravines and climbing precipices. On the 19th, they reached a large 

 rapid river flowing from the east, which Mr. Fraser named the Thompson, after his 

 friend and colleague in the work of discovery, Mr. David Thompson. 



On the 20th, thej^ reached what is now known as the Jackass Mountain. "The 

 ascent was dangerous ; stones and fragments of rock were continually giving way from our 

 feet and rolling oflT in succession." Again, on the 25th, we read, " the ascent was perfectly 

 perpendicular ; one of the Indians climbed to the summit and, by means of a long pole, 

 drew us up one after the other. This work took three hours ; then we continued our 

 course, up and down hills and along the steep declivities of mountains, where hanging 

 rocks and projecting cliffs, at the edge of the bank of the river, made the passage so small 

 as to render it at times difficult for one person to pass sideways." 



On the 2Gth they came to Spuzzum, and on the 29th they emerged from the canyon, and 

 were fortunate enough to obtain a canoe from the Indians in (he neighborhood, by means 

 of which they reached tide water on July 1st. The Indians on the coast were exceedingly 

 troublesome, and Fraser was obliged to hasten his departure. His party started on July 

 3rd, returning by the route they came, and reached their starting point, Fort George, 

 on August 6th. 



That portion of the Fraser from the confluence of the Thompson downwards, is now 

 traversed by the Canadian Pacific Eailway. It is possible from the passing train to look 

 upon some of the ground over which the men of Fraser's party struggled, by which some 



