THE END OF THE TRIP 327 



axe slipped to the bottom, and was lost, hence the 

 name Lac La Hache " Lake of the Axe." 



At " Eighty-three-mile House " we arrived very late, 

 and found a goodly number of passengers, who had 

 come earlier in the evening by the stage going north. 

 The rooms in this house are not at all large, and the 

 crowd necessitated a general " doubling up " of the 

 travelers for the night. Our stage was to leave at 

 seven in the morning, and the other one at four, so 

 some confusion naturally took place when the north- 

 bound people were aroused, breakfasted and started oft 

 on their long ride. 



The distribution of the mails along this famous 

 Cariboo wagon road is quite interesting. The route 

 lies through a large stretch of country where the 

 ground has to be irrigated, as the rainfall is quite 

 meagre. In this section many cattle are grazed, vege- 

 tables cultivated and a good deal of hay is grown. 



We noticed in addition to the letters, newspapers 

 and mail order merchandise carried in the mails, that 

 trade papers and magazines relative to farming and 

 stock raising were distributed in abundance the Farm 

 Journal, published in Philadelphia, being most fre- 

 quently seen. 



I asked a man in Barkerville why they used so many 

 magazines and newspapers up there. He said because 

 the nights were long and bitterly cold, and it was obvi- 

 ous that much reading would be indulged in ; and, in 



