iC 



TORONTO TO ATHABASCA LANDING 



teams of our advance party, but as we were travelling 

 light," we had little difficulty in making good progress. 

 Later in the day the weather cleared, permitting us to enjoy 

 a view of the beautiful country through which we were pass- 

 ing. As to the soil, it was chiefly a rich black loam, well 

 •covered, even at this early season, between the clumps of 

 poplar scrub, by rich prairie grass. A few settlers were 

 -already in the field, and had just built or were building log 

 cabins for themselves on one side or other of the trails. A 

 little farther on our way the country became more hilly, the 

 soil more sandy, and covered by the most beautiful park-like 

 forests of jack-pine. Many of the trees were as much as 

 fifteen inches in diameter, but the average size was about 

 «ight. 



After passing through some miles of these woods we again 

 emerged into more open country, wooded alternately in places 

 by poplar, spruce and jack-pine. About nine o'clock that 

 evening, when half-way to the Landing, we reached the Height 

 of Land between the two great valleys of the Saskatchewan 

 and Athabasca rivers. Here, upon a grassy spot, we made 

 our first camp. As the night was clear no tents were pitched 

 but, after partaking of some refreshment, each man rolled 

 up in his blanket and lay down, to sleep beneath the starry 

 «ky. We rested well, although our slumbers were somewhat 

 broken by the fiendish yells of prairie wolves from the sur- 

 rounding scrub, and the scarcely less diabolical screams of 

 loons sporting on a pond close by. An effort was made to 

 Tiave the latter nuisance removed, but any one who has ever 

 tried to shoot loons at night will better understand than I can 

 ■describe the difficulties of such an undertaking. 



About nine o'clock on the evening of the 30th of May we 



arrived at Athabasca Landing, only a few hours after the 



loads of supplies, which we were glad to find had all come 



through safely. 



2 17 



