Centre Valley Hot Springs 



In this we were disappointed as the sky became 

 heavily overcast and there seemed little probability of 

 there being sufficient light by which to travel. 



We therefore made the best bivouac we could, and 

 settled for the night. About midnight there came on a 

 cold, drizzling rain which increased in violence towards 

 the morning, with the result that we were drenched to 

 the skin through our sleeping-bags. We had stayed 

 just a day too long, and the rains had evidently 

 commenced. 



Chilled to the marrow, we were only too glad to 

 make a start the moment the light was sufficiently 

 strong, not even stopping to make coffee, as our fire 

 had been extinguished by the downpour and there 

 seemed little chance of our being able to light another 

 in the drenched condition of the brushwood. So we 

 made a move and ate some grouse which were left from 

 last night's supper, as we walked. We hoped by this 

 early start to be able to cover the 30 intervening 

 miles and reach Three Forks before nightfall. 



All day long the rain fell in torrents, and we 

 trudged along in our wet clothes, with the added weight 

 of the water in our sleeping-bags and the gold and other 

 samples which we had collected. Towards sundown 

 the weather moderated somewhat, and when darkness 

 came upon us some 7 miles from camp, the sky had 

 cleared, and after a three hours' wait, during which we 

 had to keep moving about in spite of our fatigue in 

 order to keep ourselves warm, we were able to resume 

 our tramp by moonlight, and eventually reached camp a 

 little before midnight. 



Here we found the canoes had been overhauled and 



243 



