SPYING OUT THE LAND. 35 



from Nelson, every day — three times the usual 

 number. There were two houses on the property 

 ready to step into; also a large new stable and a big 

 poultry-house. Then, to crown all, the price was 

 reasonable. Nor does this exhaust the attractions of 

 the place; and I use the word "attractions" 

 advisedly, because the higher ground commanded one 

 of the most striking and beautiful river scenes in 

 British Columbia, and that is equivalent to ranking it 

 among the loveliest pieces of landscape to be found 

 in the world. As we stood at the edge of the bench- 

 land, we had at our feet the two falls of the Kootenay 

 River, with the flashing reaches that link the lower 

 falls with a series of rapids which thread a group of 

 rocky, tree-grov.n islets lower down. 



The principal drawback to the place was that 

 certain parts of the frontage next the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway w^ere very rocky and the ascent to the bench 

 above w^as rather steep. This last objection could 

 be overcome by making a road up the soft earthern 

 face of the bench. As for the rock outcrops, they 

 were seen at their worst from the railway. When you 

 got up above, on to the land, they were only prominent 

 in two places. The total amount of waste from this 

 cause was probably about 6 per cent, of the whole, 

 and there were scarcely any big boulders. Almost the 

 entire area of the ranch would admit of being planted 

 with fruit-trees. Of the total extent, there was less 

 than 5 per cent, that could not be planted. The area 

 amounted to over 300 acres. 



Although I found here very many of the conditions 

 T was looking for, I postponed making a decision until 

 I had visited the Okanagan district, farther west. It 



D 2 



