MULE-HUNTING EXPEDITION. 199 
- 
CHAPTER VIII. 
MULE-HUNTING EXPEDITION FROM VANCOUVER ISLAND TO SAN 
FRANCISCO—THE ALMADEN QUICKSILVER MINES—POISON-OAK AN D 
ITs ANTIDOTE. 
Tue Commission, in 1860, were to commence 
the work of marking the boundary-line on the 
eastern side of the Cascades. A large addition 
to our staff of pack-mules being indispensable, 
I was despatched to San Francisco to purchase 
them; and instructed to rejoin the Commission, 
as soon as practicable, at the Dalles, already 
mentioned as a small town on the upper part of 
the Columbia river. 
I introduce the journal of my mule-hunting 
adventures at this part of the volume, as it 
enables me to explain the systems of transport 
and travelling resorted to in wild countries, 
where roads and railways are unknown. | tran- 
scribe my journal, the events of each day as 
hastily recorded :— 
Feb. 29th, 1860.—Left Esquimalt Harbour in 
