NORTH-WESTERN PARTS OF NORTH AMERICA. 
.. were the only things I saved in this unfor- 
.* 
F3 
tunate journey. 
My return up the Columbia was effected 
by means of my cloak and blanket, which 
I used as sails. It was midnight of the 
15th when I reached Fort Vancouver, after 
an absence of twenty-five days; during 
which I experienced more fatigue, and 
gleaned less, than in any trip I ever made 
in this country. 
From this period, the middle of Novem- 
ber, to the end of December, my infirm 
state of health, and the prevalence of the 
rainy season entirely precluded any thought 
of Botany. At mid-day of the 18th, the 
annual express, consisting of two boats 
and forty men, arrived at Fort Vancouver, 
from Hudson's Bay, whence they had start- 
ed on the 21st of July. Ata distance of 
several miles we had descried them, rapid- 
ly descending the stream, and as in this 
remote country, it is only once a-year that 
the Post, if I may so call it, arrives from 
England, we eagerly hurried to welcome 
our guests, each congratulating himself on 
the prospect of receiving letters from home. 
I, for one, was heavily disappointed ; to 
my great regret, the party informed me 
that there was no parcel, letter, nor article 
of any kind for me, and though this was 
accounted for by the circumstance, that 
they had quitted Hudson's Bay before the 
arrival of the ship which sailed for that port 
from England in the month of May, still it 
Was tantalizing to reflect that whatever 
might have been sent to me by that vessel, 
must now lie on the other side of the great 
Continent of America until November of 
next year. Mr. M‘Leod, the gentleman in 
charge of this expedition, informed me that 
he had met Capt. Franklin’s party on Cum- 
berland Lake, on their way to Bear Lake, 
their winter residence, I learned also that 
expedition, and that he had accompanied 
od so far as the Rocky Moun- 
3 : tains, where he meant to spend the winter 
Season neur Peace River and Smoking 
Wou. 
97 
River. Mr. M‘Leod, whom I find to be a 
very agreeable person, informs me that he 
has passed the last five years on Macken- 
zie's River, of the country lying near 
which, he possesses more knowledge than 
any other person. The natives, whose 
language he speaks fluently, assure him 
that there is a river, running parallel with 
Mackenzie's River, to the West, and equal- 
ing it in size, which falls into the sea near 
Icy Cape. He had assembled the Indians 
with a view to making a journey in that 
direction, when orders arrived which 
obliged him to start for Hudson's Bay. In 
this gentleman may be seen what perse- 
verance can effect, as he had visited the 
Polar Sea, and the Atlantic and Pacific 
Oceans in the short space of eleven months. 
The sea, to the westward of Mackenzie's 
River is said to be open after July, so 
that little difficulty or exertion would be 
found in going to Icy Cape by land. 
During the brief intervals of good wea- 
ther, I crawled out whenever my wounded 
leg enabled me to move, and taking my 
gun, collected some birds, or went to the 
woods in search of Mosses and other cryp- 
togamic plants. Till the 15th of Decem- 
ber there was hardly any frost, and the 
weather, when dry, was very pleasant, 
though the cold was considerable during 
night. But on the 24th of that month, 
the rain fell in such torrents that my little 
hut of Thuja bark became untenantable, 
the water standing fourteen inches deep on 
the floor; Mr. M‘Loughlin kindly invited 
me to take up my quarters with him in his 
half-finished house, and thither I removed 
all my little articles on the morning of 
Christmas Day. After morning service 
was over, the gentlemen of the Fort took 
an airing on horseback, in which my trou- 
blesome knee, much to my vexation, pre- 
vented my joining. 
January 1st, 1826. The commencement 
of a new year, in such a far-removed cor- 
ner of the globe, where I am almost cut 
off from all civilized society, suggests 
many reflections. On New Year's Day, 
1824, I was on the Atlantic, returning to 
my native land from North America; on 
G 
