288 



RECREATION. 



The river bottom and lower grounds 

 once behind us, the country was more 

 open and travelling much easier. This 

 was especially true as we passed up a 

 slope leading to a mesa or table land, 

 which stretched 15 or 20 miles between 

 us and the snow covered range. This 

 flat stretch of country was covered with 

 a dense forest. After travelling through 

 it for two or three miles, we were com- 

 pelled to stop on account of the many 

 large fallen trees. Swampy places added 

 much to the difficulties of our progress. 

 Our horses had jumped logs until they 

 were unable to go farther. In this local- 

 ity there was an abundance of signs of 

 large game, and a deer was soon killed 

 for our camp supplies. A little recon- 

 noitering convinced me that it would 

 be simply impossible to get our horses 

 through such a tangled mess of fallen 

 timber. It was possible to walk for 

 miles on the trunks of fallen trees, 

 many of which were 100 to 150 feet in 

 length. 



Years ago a forest fire had done its 

 dreadful work in this region. A second 

 growth of small trees and underbrush 

 covered a ground which was well coated 

 in many places with moss and huckle, 

 or blue-berry bushes, now loaded with 

 ripe fruit. Bears had made trails here, 

 there and everywhere ; and the ground 

 was cut up with deer tracks Here I 

 saw my first fresh caribou tracks. 



After a day's prospecting, we retreated 

 and tried to get through by entering at 

 other places. We finally spent a day 

 trying to find a way around this forest, 

 but there seemed to be no possible show 

 to get through to the snow covered 

 peaks, which were not more than 15 miles 

 further to the north. We finally made 

 camp, at a place where our horses could 

 feed on swamp grass, and started at 

 daylight, next morning, on foot for the 

 snow covered peaks, blazing a trail as 

 we went. During the afternoon we 

 reached the peaks and climbed to the 

 top of one of the highest. Here we 

 rested, ate our lunch of venison and 

 biscuit, and took a look at the surround- 

 ing country. Looking to the north, the 

 great Frazer river country stretched out 

 before us. To the south, down the 

 Kettle river basin, toward the great 

 Columbia, there was a wilderness of 

 gray and green, a vast stretch of dead 

 and living forest. Within this great 



stretch of country, and to the south-east, 

 was an extensive area of comparatively 

 level forest land, near the centre of 

 which were several lakes. I determined, 

 there and then, to visit the lake country 

 on my return, if possible. Away to the 

 east was a ragged looking range of snow 

 covered mountains. More than a 100 

 miles to the west the great Cascade 

 range loomed up in solemn grandeur. It 

 was one of the most impressive views 

 of nature it has ever been my privilege 

 to enjoy. 



I was many times reminded while I 

 stood on the coast of Labrador and 

 Greenland, during the summer of 1894, 

 of what I saw from that mountain at the 

 head of Kettle river. Standing on its 

 summit, I looked out upon a vast ocean 

 of mountains. The white peaks of the 

 snowy ranges glistened in the blue sky, 

 above a sea of mist and smoke which half 

 veiled the surrounding country. Stand- 

 ing on the coasts of Greenland, I 

 looked out upon the real ocean. The 

 icebergs, some small, others large ; some 

 near, others far away, appeared as iso- 

 lated snow-white mountain peaks. Some 

 rose hundreds of feet above the gray 

 mists of the sea and gleamed in the cool, 

 gray sky. There are many things in 

 these two scenes that might be com- 

 pared, one with the other, and yet they 

 were altogether unlike. I felt as far 

 away from everywhere and as near 

 nowhere in the one place as in the 

 other. One was no more lonesome or 

 inviting than the other. There was 

 something grand and inspiring about 

 both, which produced a sensation of 

 pleasure that can never be experienced 

 again unless under similar conditions. 



A hurried survey revealed the fact 

 that there was plenty of game about the 

 base of the peaks. Several deer were 

 seen, but no caribou, though their tracks 

 were not uncommon, and some were 

 evidently but a few days old. 



It was now late in the afternoon and 

 our little camp was miles away. We 

 made haste down the mountain and 

 struck our blazed trail on a run. It 

 was well on towards midnight when we 

 found that place of all places, dear to a 

 hunter's heart, the camp. Boiled veni- 

 son, hot biscuits, with blueberry sauce 

 and tea, repaired the impoverished con- 

 dition of our blood, and we were soon 

 at rest in our sleeping bags. 



