THE TRIP TO THE HUNTING-GROUNDS 



AFTER making arrangements for a big-game shooting - trip 

 i in the Cassiar Mountains of Northern British Columbia 

 for two successive years, and being obliged to abandon both 

 trips for various reasons, early in August, 1907, my friend 

 Howe and I at last found ourselves en route. We arrived in 

 Seattle via the Northern Pacific Railroad on the evening of 

 August 7th, reaching Vancouver a day later, and, early in the 

 morning of August loth, started from that port for Wrangel, 

 Alaska, by the C. P. R. steamer Princess May. 



This trip to Wrangel occupied about three days and a half, 

 the course being entirely inland between the mainland and the 

 various islands, with the exception of crossing Queen Charlotte 

 Sound, where the long swell of the Pacific was felt for several 

 hours. The coast -line was very impressive, as the mainland 

 was cut into by numerous picturesque fiords, and the channels 

 between the precipitous islands were very narrow ; but unfort- 

 unately a great deal of the scenery was hidden, owing to the 

 continuous rain and fog of this region. The steamer stopped 

 at Alert Bay, Essington, Prince Rupert, Port Simpson, and 

 Ketichiken, where either sawmills, salmon-canneries, or mines 

 gave impetus to industry. On board the Princess May, besides 

 the usual number of men interested in either of the above in- 

 dustries, twenty-one sportsmen from various parts of the world, 

 as well as two Englishwomen accompanying their husbands, 

 were heading for the Cassiar Mountain hunting-grounds. They 

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