EXPEDITIONS TO PACIFIC. 115 



however, after the arrival of the governor, a cauoe appeared ou the lake, aucl in twenty 

 minutes, amid a salute of firearms, Mr. Connolly entei-ed the fort. 



Sir George Simpson left Hudson Bay on July 12th ; Mr. Connolly, the Pacific on 

 July 12th. A singular coincidence, &ays Chief Factor Archibald McDonald, who in his 

 journal records the meeting.' 



Sir George Simpson passed from the lake to Stuart River and the Fraser, which he 

 descended to Fort Alexandria. Horses were taken at this place and the country crossed 

 to Ivamloops, a distance of 215 miles. 



At Kamloops, water navigation was resumed, and the start was made in a canoe with 

 twelve paddles. After passing through Lake Kamloops to its outlet, they entered the 

 Lower Thompson, which they descended to its junction with the Fraser. F'rom this point 

 they reached tide water by the same route as that followed by Simon Fraser twenty 

 years earlier. They left Kamloops early on October 6th, and reached Fort Langley, on 

 the Fraser, about twenty-five miles from its mouth, on the 10th, the distance being 

 264 miles. 



The whole journey from York Factory took ninety days, of which sixteen were passed 

 at the trading posts ; consequently the whole time en route was seventy-four days. One 

 remarkable feature of this journey was the short time in which it was made. Sir George 

 was well-known for his rapidity of movement. Ninety miles a day was no uncommon 

 occurrence with him. The canoes would start at 2 in the morning, with rests for 

 breakfast, dinner and supper. The men paddled until a late hour, which the long days 

 of the northern latitudes permitted, sometimes until 8 or 10 at night. The average 

 distance made was fifty miles a day. In some instances seventy-five, eighty, and even 

 ninety miles were covered. The journey recorded was made across the continent from 

 tide-water of the Atlantic to the Pacific. It was caî-ried out without any of the accessories 

 of modern locomotion, in so short a time that, if the facts were not sustained by indis- 

 putable evidence, the record might be considered an exaggeration. 



Sir George Simpson was a man of great force of character, with much administrative 

 ability. He was indefatigable in the discharge of his duties, and his frame was one 

 capable of enduring great fatigue. 



(11) Travels of Mr. David Douglas, 1825—1834. 



The distinguished botanist and traveller, Mr. David Douglas, spent a number of years 

 in the country on the Pacific coast, extending from Oregon northward. In 1824 he 

 started from England by sea, and reached Fort Vancouver on the Columbia, in April, 

 1825. Mr. Douglas is mentioned by Chief Trader John McLeod, as a fellow-traA^eller up 

 the Columbia in 1826. In that year he crossed the Rocky Mountains ; reached Hudson 

 Bay, where he met Sir John Franklin, and returned with him to England. 



' This jonruey, under the title, Peace River ; a Canoe Voyage from Hudson Bay to the Pacific, in 1S2S, was 

 published in Ottawa in lS7i'. The work is edited by Mr. Malcolm ^IcLeod, son of the Chief Trader John ilcLeod 

 above referred to. He passed many years of his youth in the jSîorthwest, and crossed the mountains twice with 

 his father before he reached the age of six. IMr. McLeod has added many valuable notes describing the customs 

 and habits of the voyageur.'! ; his information, regarding the geography of much of this still but partially known 

 region, is equally important and interesting. 



