234 NARRATIVE OF A JOURNEY 



result of his observations to the board of commissioners, by 

 whose advice his pioneer journey has been undertaken.* 



On the 17th, I embarked with this gentleman in a canoe, for a 

 visit to the lower part of the river. We arrived at the American 

 brig in the afternoon, on board of which we quartered for the 

 night, and the next morning early, the vessel cast off from the 

 shore. She has her cargo of furs and salmon on board, and is 

 bound to Boston, via the Sandwich and Society Islands. Mr. 

 Parker took passage in her to Fort George, and in the afternoon 

 I returned in my canoe to Vancouver. 



December \st. — The weather is now unusually fine. Instead 

 of the drenching rains which generally prevail during the wintei; 

 months, it has been for some weeks clear and cool, the ther- 

 mometer ranging from 35° to 45°. 



The ducks and geese, which have swarmed throughout the 

 country during the latter part of the autumn, are leaving us, and 

 the swans are arriving in great numbers. These are here, as in all 

 other places, very shy; it is difficult to approach them without 

 cover; but the Indians have adopted a mode of killing them 

 which is very successful ; that of drifting upon the flocks at night, 

 in a canoe, in the bow of which a large fire of pitch pine has 

 been kindled. The swans are dazzled, and apparently stupified 

 by the bright light, and fall easy victims to the craft of the 

 sportsman. 



2Qth. — Yesterday one of the Canadians took an enormous wolf 

 in a beaver-trap. It is probably a distinct species from the com- 

 mon one, (lupus,) much larger and stronger, and of a yellowish 

 cinereous color. The man states that he found considerable diffi- 

 culty in capturing him, even after'the trap had been fastened on 



* Mr. Parker has since published an account of this tour, to which the reader 

 is referred, for much valuable information, relative to tlie condition of the Indians 

 on our western frontier. 



