56 CRUISINGS IN THE CASCADES 



person of Mr. C. Gr. Major, a merchant, who, the mo- 

 ment I made known to him my wish, replied: 



"Well, sir, the best guide and the best hunter in 

 British Columbia left here not three minutes ago. 

 He is an Indian who lives on Douglass Lake, and I 

 think I can get him for you. If I can, you are fixed 

 for a good and successful hunt." 



This news, and the frank, manly, cordial greeting 

 that came with it, were surprising to me, after the 

 treatment I had been receiving. Mr. Major invited 

 me into his private office, gave me a chair by the fire, 

 and sent out a messenger to look for c ' Douglass Bill," 

 the Indian of whom he had spoken. This important 

 personage soon came in. Mr. Major told him what 

 I wanted, and it took but a few minutes to make 

 a bargain. He was a solid, well-built Indian, had 

 an intelligent face, spoke fair English, and had the 

 reputation of being, as Mr. Major had said, an excel- 

 lent hunter. Mr. Major further said he considered 

 Bill one of the most honest, truthful Indians he had 

 ever known, and that I could trust him as implicitly 

 as I could any white man in the country. 



This arrangement was made on Saturday night, 

 but Bill said he could not start on the hunt until 

 Wednesday morning, as his mother-in-law had just 

 died, and he must go and help to bury her on Tues- 

 day. The funeral was to take place on the Chiluk- 

 weyuk river, a tributary of the Frazer, about fifty 

 miles above New Westminster, and it was arranged 

 that I should go up on the steamer, and meet him at 

 the mouth of Harrison river, another tributary 

 stream, on Wednesday morning. We were then to 

 go up the Harrison to the hunting grounds. I was. 



