208 A NOTE FROM THE FAR NORTH. 
these mountains lies Lake Toutah, a beautiful sheet of 
water, full sixty miles long. At certain places the moun- 
tains come jutting down to the very water's edge, and at 
others recede so as to allow a beautiful open prairie to 
stretch along the edge. This lake is the head of F inlay’s 
Branch of Peace River, which in turn empties into McKen- 
zie’s River. Yet within less than two hundred yards of 
its southern end rises a tributary of the Skena River, 
which empties into the Pacific Ocean in latitude 54° N. 
The extremes of temperature are great. September 
15th, in latitude 56° N., the thermometer stood at 6 o'clock, 
A. M., at 15° Far., at 2 o'clock, P. m., at 83° Far. After 
the avalanches and solar heat have carried off the snow 
from the mountain sides and valleys, the vegetation again 
starts up with a rapidity that would astonish even a native 
of the tropics. Hardly a fortnight elapses after giving up 
the snowshoes, before one finds the lower and more fertile 
spots covered with verdure, and blooming as a garden. 
Among these early flowers we find a Nardosmia, Calypso 
borealis, several species of Violets, a Polemonium, Vale- 
rian, ete. These mountains form an Indian paradise. Se- 
cure here from any present or prospective annoyance from 
the whites, the Siccannee, Nahanni, Koninah, and Klo- 
o-dini tribes hunt the Caribou, Grizzly Bear, Moose, 
Beaver, and Marten. Perhaps the beavers are nowhere 
in the world so numerous as among the Peak Mountains. 
The Indians are, as a rule, friendly, and no man of ordi- 
nary courage need to be deterred through fear from going 
where he lists. To the young, active adventurer, who 
wishes to make a name for himself as an explorer, no 
more promising field than the one we have noticed can 
present itself. 
