298 Our North Land. 



The Skeena Forks, or Kitma, is the site of an Indian village 

 where about two hundred and fifty Tshimsians reside, at which the 

 waters of the Bulkley river, flowing from the south-east, mingle with 

 those of the Skeena, which, at and above this point, flow from the 

 north. The waters of the Bulkley come from the same series of 

 small lakes in which the Nechaco River takes its rise, flowing easterly 

 to Fort George, beyond which it is lost in the Fraser. 



Our present route from the Forks to the north end of Babine 

 Lake is on a trail, known as the old Indian route. It was cut out 

 and improved by the Government of British Columbia a number of 

 years ago, so as to afford easy access to the Omenica mining district. 

 It is still used to a great extent by the Indians, who make a regular 

 business of carrying goods and provisions across. After leaving the 

 somewhat flat country at the Forks, the trail passes over a nearly 

 level country for several miles. It is wooded with poplar, cotton- 

 wood and birch, mixed with evergreen trees, and seems to have a 

 good soil and to be well fitted for cultivation. Grass with wild peas 

 and vetches grow in great luxuriance ; and, travelling through this 

 beautiful district in the spring or early summer months, one will 

 find all the thickets fragrant with wild roses. A great variety of 

 wholesome berries and choke-cherries abound, beyond the limit of 

 description, and strawberries, in their season, might be gathered by 

 the ton. It is indeed a wonderful country. 



Not far from the Forks the trail reaches the gently sloping hill- 

 sides on the right bank of the Watsonkwa, which it continues to 

 follow for seven or eight miles, till a stream called the Suskwa is 

 reached, just above its junction with the Watsonkwa. In following 

 the hill-sides, the valleys of several small streams, flowing in courses 

 of greater or less depth, are crossed. The valley of the main stream, 

 between the bases of the mountains at its sides, is wide, but the 

 immediate valley of the river is steep-sided, and the river itself 

 flows onward between rocky banks with great force. The Indians 

 in this part of the country construct bridges across streams too rapid 

 to be crossed in canoes with safety, when not too wide for the means 

 at disposal. These have been called suspension bridges, and are 

 ingenious in plan. The Watsonkwa is spanned by one of these about 



