CARIBOO HUNTING. 141 



choke the view ; whereas in these lofty hard- woods, 

 under which grows nothing but slender saplings, a most 

 extensive glimpse of their furthest depths is obtained, 

 and thousands of delicate little ramifications, before un- 

 noticed, now stand out in bold relief in the grey gloom 

 of the distance. And then, when the storm has passed 

 by, and that beautiful blue tint of a wintry sky, coursed 

 by light fleecy scud, succeeds the heavily laden cloud, 

 how exquisitely the scene lights up ! what a soft warm 

 tint is thrown upon the light-coloured bark of the maples 

 and birches, and upon the prominent dottings and lines 

 of snow which mark their forms, and how lovely is that 

 light purple shade which continually crosses the road, 

 marking the shadows ! As the sun increases in warmth, 

 or a passing gust of wind courses through the trees, 

 avalanches of snow fall in sparkling spray, and the new 

 snow glitters in myriads of little scintillations, so that 

 the eye becomes pained by the intensity of brilliancy 

 pervading the face of nature. 



We stopped the sleigh opposite a group of Indian bark 

 wigwams, which stood a short distance from the road ; 

 the noise of voices and curling wreaths of smoke from 

 their tops proved them to be occupied, and, as we re- 

 quired a second Indian hunter, particularly one who was 

 well acquainted with the neighbourhood, we followed the 

 track which led up to them, and entered the largest. 

 The head of the family, who sat upon a spread cariboo- 

 skin of gigantic proportions, was one of the finest old 

 Indians I ever saw — one of the last living models of a 

 race now so changed in physical and moral development 

 that it may be fairly said to be extinct. An old man of 

 nearly eighty winters was this aged chief, yet erect, and 



