THE PELLY RIVER 183 



her course along the left bank, and soon threw out a rope, 

 which was pulled by half a dozen men just enough to take 

 up the slack. This was sufficient to assist her powerful 

 engine to overcome the resistance and propel the boat 

 over a short, strong rapid. That was the only assistance 

 required to navigate the long rapids of the canon. What 

 a contrast to my experience on the Emma Knot, when we 

 were trying to go through the year before! Later in the 

 morning we reached the mouth of the MacMillan River 

 where the Hosfalls were left to occupy, for a short time, a 

 small cabin constructed on the bank of the Pelly, close to a 

 big eddy, which was an excellent place to set a net and 

 obtain a stock of King salmon, which were then begin- 

 ning to run up the river. After leaving the mouth of 

 the MacMillan, I entered a region entirely new to me. 



The Pelly River, discharging a volume of water 

 slightly less than that of the Lewes, joins it at Selkirk. 

 The Yukon River is formed by their junction. In the 

 summer of 1 840, the Hudson Bay Company, having estab- 

 lished a post at Fort Halkett on the lower Liard River, 

 commissioned Robert Campbell, one of those doughty 

 Scotch pioneers in its employ, to explore the North Branch 

 of the Liard to its source and cross over the divide of 

 land in search of a river flowing westward. With two 

 Indians, Lapie and Ketza, and an interpreter, Hoole, 

 Campbell successfully crossed the divide and discovered 

 the river, which he named in honor of Sir H. Pelly, a 

 Governor of the Company. 



After floating down a few miles on a raft they re- 

 turned, and, in 1842, the Hudson Bay Company con- 



