[howay] argonauts OF 1862 55 



Depressed by these stones and concluding that it was unwise 

 to proceed any further towards the mines this season they retraced 

 their steps to Quesnel. Thence they took canoe to Alexandria and on 

 September 18th began a walk of three hundred miles to Douglas on 

 Harrison Lake. As they journeyed they found members of their 

 party who were at work as farm hands, cooks, etc., at wages of $40 

 to $60 per month. By September 25th they reached Bridge Creek. 

 The Cariboo road was then under construction, and when the road 

 makers were met our diarist engaged as a cook at $40 per month and 

 board. This was the realization of his dreams of affluence and easily- 

 gotten wealth. Yet even here he felt himself fortunate as day by 

 day the ebbing tide of disappointed gold seekers passed on. The 

 reasons for this condition are not dealt with in the diary; they were 

 in all probability unknown to its writer; but they are well-known to 

 all who have studied the story of Cariboo in 1862. 



The diarist continued with the road makers until the snow fell. 

 On November 3rd the road camp having been closed for the season he 

 resumed his journey to the coast. As this part of the Cariboo road 

 has been described times out of number it is sufficient to say that on 

 November 16th he reached New Westminster, then the capital of the 

 colony, and the end of his wanderings, for the time. 



Sec. II, Sig. 5 



