284 TRAVELS IN THE EIGHTIES. 



the tide was running swiftly out of Bute Inlet, 

 because we had the advantage of a favourable wind, 

 which gradually freshened into half a gale. The 

 smooth bottom of the canoe allowed her to glide at 

 a rapid pace, with occasionally an exhilarating bound 

 like a restive steed, among steep waves, which fol- 

 lowed but were unable to overtake her. Beyond 

 Clipper Point we passed the spot where, I had been 

 informed, three white men were living in a " logging 

 camp," employed in constructing a raft of timbers, 

 to be eventually towed to civilisation. Signs of their 

 work could be seen, though the distance was over a 

 mile. Shortly beyond, on the right or opposite side 

 of the inlet, could be distinguished the Indian hamlet 

 in Orford Bay, which I visited in returning. Alpha 

 Bluff, apparently so named from a magnificent cliff 

 just beyond it, was the next landmark, and we then 

 entered one of the finest reaches in Bute Inlet. 



Granite Peak (6,653 ft.) is a splendid spectacle, but 

 is seen to the best advantage after passing the next 

 promontory, or Point Boyd, where another grand 

 reach commences, stretching to Point Purcell. On 

 the eastern or opposite shore of Bute Inlet rise The 

 Needles (7,800 ft.) facing Point Boyd. Owing to the 

 large scale on which the natural features of the coast 

 are constructed, including the trees fir, pine, and 

 cedars which grow larger than in other lands or the 

 interior, one's first conception of altitudes and distances 

 is invariably incorrect. A true idea of such actual di- 

 mensions is only to be obtained by perpetual travel and 



