DOWN THE PEACE RIVER 129 



and by the young man said that the storm was breaking, because 

 he could see much better, and I looked across at his face and said : 

 "Why, you fool, your whole face has frozen up and you are look- 

 ing through ice." We turned our backs to the wind and then 

 cleared our faces. By this time, I was afraid that our trip was 

 going to have a serious ending, as we were on a trackless prairie 

 and had to face a blizzard that filled the whole atmosphere with 

 snow. By good fortune, I knew that the grass on each side of a 

 trail is longer than the grass on the trail and, as I ran along, I 

 kept my eyes on the left-hand side of the road and, by that means, 

 kept the track. 



Towards evening, we reached the creek, and found that the 

 men had erected a teepee and had a blazing fire in the center and 

 everything was comfortable. When we reached the camp, we 

 were thirsty, but I was unable to open my mouth and the water 

 was poured down my throat by one of the men, as I wore a long 

 beard at this time. It took me over an hour to get it thawed out. 



Next day, we reached McKinnon's and left part of our horses 

 and the oxen, as they were unable to proceed further and, for the 

 next eight days, we trudged through the snow to Winnipeg. We 

 saved our horses and cattle, but some of our party nearly broke 

 down. When one was exhausted, another would take the lead 

 and break the way for the others. We were the only party that 

 escaped without loss, numbers of horses and cattle having perished 

 in this long continued storm. 



I reached Winnipeg on the 3rd of November and put up at the 

 Queen's hotel, and, that evening, I was interviewed by a number 

 of the citizens as soon as they heard that I had just come in from 

 the Peace River and could tell them of the wonders of that un- 

 known land. I remember only four of the gentlemen; but one 

 of them is still alive, namely, Rev. Dr. Geo. Bryce, of Winnipeg. 

 The gentlemen were, Consul Taylor, Dr. Bryce, Archdeacon G . . . . 

 and the collector of Inland Revenue. Consul Taylor was the 

 American Consul and was called by the people of Winnipeg, 

 "Saskatchewan Taylor," as he always maintained that the Sask- 

 atchewan valley held most of the wheat lands of the north. I 

 had with me the wheat and the barley that I had picked up at 



