Sev lsING elie F/ORDS OF THE.NORTH PACIFIC 
easy matter, for, paddle as we might, 
the raging torrent would catch our 
canoe beam on and carry it far below 
the point on the opposite bank for which 
we were headed. Now and again, too, 
we would ship some sea in the bar- 
gain. 
Farther up the river flowed in many 
treacherous rapids, beset with tree 
snags and jagged rocks. To pass over 
these frequently required a combination 
of energies, our party tugging at a 
track-line as we toiled amongst the 
huge boulders of the beach, whilst the 
Indians in the canoe poled with all 
their vigor. At times the rapids ran 
too little water to take the draft of our 
canoe with all aboard. Here we would 
disembark and walk, leaving the natives 
to weather the job alone. Now and 
again the order was to fairly lift the 
boat over the rocks, and then waist- 
deep into the icy waters all went. Thus 
for three days we toiled up the mighty 
stream, never faltering until huge ice- 
cakes, tearing downstream, threatened 
our bark, though at the same time be- 
speaking a near approach to our goal, 
—the great ice-cake itself. As we pro- 
ceeded we saw many goats feeding 
along the mountain sides, whilst on our 
enforced walks ashore we observed in- 
numerable fresh spoor of deer and huge 
grizzlies. 
In the afternoon of the third day we 
came in plain sight of the Great glacier 
of the Tsau-wati, the source of the 
river. The huge mer-de-glace glistened 
vari-colored in the afternoon sun, 
silently beckoning us to a closer in- 
spection, impossible except on foot, for 
the river now fairly boiled with savage 
undercurrents which threatened to swal- 
low us up. So we pitched our camp ina 
little fir grove off a sandy beach in a 
notch of the mountains’ rock-walls, 
about a mile’s walk from where the 
river first emerges from a great cavern 
in the glacier. Before supper the In- 
(To be concluded) 
’ 
565 
dians gaffed over an hundred pounds © 
of fine salmon in about ten minutes 
immediately in front of camp, and we 
feasted on them. We also hailed “the 
ieetnan, «as be drove by in the 
stream, and indulged ourselves in 
several “high-balls,’ cooled with chunks 
of glacial ice. 
An early start for the glacier was 
made next morning on foot, and we 
soon covered the intervening mile or 
more of silty flat, and stood at the foot 
of the immense névé, as it rested in the 
very bed of the river. Through a vast 
cavern in the glacier, whose orifice 
reflected radiantly all the colors of the 
spectrum, a great torrent emerged, 
bearing innumerable chunks of ice, and 
formed the river. Here a most perilous 
part of our pilgrimage began. Noth- 
ing daunted, we ascended on to the 
great ice fields themselves, as they 
stretched out in a solid mass for three 
miles or more, at one point exceeding 
a mile in width, and bounded on all 
sides by high peaks. To obtain a better 
view, we scaled one of these peaks, 
which seemed to frown down a further 
challenge. From its altitude, some nine 
thousand feet above sea level, our eyes 
feasted on a thousand peaks, wrapped 
in a world of snow and ice, and away 
to the west and east, far below, our 
binoculars picked out green valleys 
and winding streams,—a paradise lost 
for British Columbians to some day 
regain. 
The mountain peak and glacier were 
descended and then the rigors of rapid- 
running were encountered. We shot 
the half hundred rapids of the river in 
our Siwash canoe at a lively rate. What 
had taken days in the ascent was made 
in a few hours going downstream, the 
work requiring even greater. skill and 
presence of mind, which our Indian 
canoeists possessed in a high degree. 
And we again reached the village at 
the river’s mouth in safety. . 
