OFF FOR THE WILDS 189 



The second day of the trip is the hardest. Leaving 

 " Eighty -three-mile House " at 4 A. M., " One-hundred- 

 and-fif teen-mile House" is reached in time for lunch, 

 " One-hundred-and-fifty-mile House " is reached for 

 supper, and at Soda Creek, on the Frazer River, the 

 day's run ends at about 11 P. M. 



The distance traveled for the day from start to finish 

 is about ninety-one miles. The road leads up one 

 mountainside and down another up and down all day 

 long, with very little level ground. The road is a good 

 one ; considering its length, and the character of the 

 country through which it passes, it is superlatively good. 



We were very courteously treated in Ashcroft by 

 the British Columbia Express people, the Canadian 

 customs official, the post-office employees and the hotel 

 men. One of our trunks got astray, and much tele- 

 graphing was needed to locate it. When that was 

 finally done and we were sure of its final arrival the 

 following morning, we went to bed. 



At 3 : 30 A. M. we were up and off to the express 

 office, where all the baggage was taken out of the 

 trunks and repacked in dunnage bags. We left at 

 4:30. 



Besides the stage proper, drawn by four horses, 

 which contained nine passengers and the mail, there 

 were two other rigs drawn by two horses each and 

 carrying eight more passengers seventeen in all. 

 We saw the first game of the trip three miles from 



