HAMILTON SCIENTIFIC ASSOCIATION. 29 



I get there? The British Cohimbian forest is one of the most 

 formidable things you can meet. What with the thick underbrush, 

 huge trees lying flat on the ground, and the immense cedars, 

 there's no chance of getting through by horses, even if I could get 

 them. For a while I watched with interest two men in the vacant 

 lot next to the log hut where I was staying who were building a 

 boat. They took every possible opportunity to leave the work in 

 order to get a drink, etc., so I concluded the boat would never be 

 built. I was in despair, when one day, while walking on the river 

 bank, I found three fellows with a boat, a beauty. I bought a 

 quarter share in it for $12.50. As I paid so much for my share I 

 had the choice of direction, so we made ready to go up stream. 

 My friends told me that there would shortly be fewer prospectors 

 in that part of the country and that an empty canoe would soon be 

 coming down the river. But we made a good pair of oars, put in a 

 little tent, got our supplies ready and started from about a quarter 

 of a mile up the shore. The two of us who had the least skill in 

 boating took the oars, while the other two took paddles to steer our 

 course. We pushed off, the oars and paddles began to work, and 

 we went straight down stream faster than we had expected to go 

 up. So we made for the shore and the two of us who had been 

 rowing took a rope, fastened it to the canoe, and while the others 

 steered, pulled the boat up stream. Then the river began to rise, 

 and rise, and what with trees blocking our way and compelling us 

 to cross over to pass them, we had a pretty hard time of it. It 

 afterwards became cloudy, the river fell again, and we made better 

 progress. 



That was the kind of work that the early gold miners used to 

 do — haul their supplies up with great labor. They ate lots of beans 

 in those days. That kind of river is in some ways a drawback to 

 the development of the country. But now railroads are taking the 

 place of boats for transportation, except on some of the lake ex- 

 pansions where a few steamers are used. 



Another important river is the Fraser, one of the most head- 

 long in the country. The best canyon in the country is to be found 

 there. It is more than two thousand feet hig^h. 



