CHAPTEE XXVII 



PERILS AND HARDSHIPS THAT MUST BE 

 ENDURED 



DR. HUGHES and I were anxious to make a trip 

 either from the Bear River to the mighty Frazer River, 

 or by way of the Goat River trail, a distance of sixty 

 miles, from Bear Lake to the Upper Frazer ; in either 

 event to canoe down the Frazer to Quesnelle where we 

 would take the steamer for Soda Creek, and there catch 

 the stage for Ashcroft. 



On the stage to Barkerville we met a bright, courte- 

 ous and intelligent Englishman, who was a "squaw 

 man," that is, he had married a Siwash Indian woman. 



He recommended us to arrange for a couple of 

 Indians with a boat to paddle us down the Frazer to 

 Quesnelle. This man said that the Goat River trail 

 was a bad one. The mountains on each side were said 

 to be much frequented by mountain goats and bears. 



On our arrival at Quesnelle we arranged with the 

 manager of the Hudson Bay Company, that when we 

 reached Barkerville, if we could get men and horses to 

 go through with us by the Goat River route to the 

 Frazer, we would wire him to have the Indian helpers 

 ready. 



At Barkerville we failed to find any one that had 



