104 EXPLORATION TO THE PEACE RIVER 



worn Indian trail. A closer examination, however, showed that 

 it was a path made by the rocky mountain goat and I at once 

 concluded that it would lead us up the easiest path to the highest 

 summit of the mountain and therefore determined to follow it 

 on the morrow. 



"Next morning, after breakfast, I called for volunteers to 

 accompany Mr. Macoun and me up the mountain and at 8 a.m. 

 we set out. There had been considerable discussion in camp upon 

 the probability of our being able to reach the summit. One of 

 our party confidently asserting that it was quite impossible. So 

 far as his own power of climbing was concerned, his opinion proved 

 quite correct as when we still had some 1,500 feet to ascend he 

 gave it up and lay down to await our return, reiterating his opin- 

 ion that none of us would ever reach the summit, and doubtless 

 to persons unaccustomed to alpine climbing, the undertaking might 

 appear somewhat formidable. At about 2 p.m., however, we 

 arrived there and, though it cost us five and a half hours of con- 

 tinuous toil, we were amply repaid by the magnificent scene around 

 us. We were now 4,590 feet above our camp and about 6,220 

 feet above the sea. To the north, the river lay directly beneath 

 us at probably less than three-quarters of a mile of horizontal 

 distance and beyond it, from northwards to northeast, stretched 

 away for twenty or thirty miles, a perfect sea of alpine peaks 

 and ridges." 



Early in the morning of the 11th, as quoted above from Dr. 

 Selwyn's report, we started in high spirits to climb "Mt. Selwyn," 

 in company with Mr. Webster and Mr. Mclennan. I started by 

 carrying my botanical box and, in the latter, my portfolio contain- 

 ing a large quantity of paper. We started from the mountain 

 stream which Dr. Selwyn and I had seen yesterday. When we 

 reached the stream, I asked as a favor that a halt of a few moments 

 be made while I examined the banks which I did with astonishing 

 success. In a few moments, I had collected a large number of 

 alpine species which had been brought down by the stream from 

 far up the mountain. From the very base of the mountain, we 

 followed the path formed by the mountain goat spoken of by Dr. 

 Selwyn. On the lower slopes, there was no change in the vegeta- 



