1 84 



RECREATION. 



The next morning after my arrival I was 

 astir early, and taking Zilla and my favorite 

 rifle I went down the river to locate a place 

 whither I could move my supplies and build 

 a boat, since there was yet a stretch of bad 

 water below me. About 4 miles below I 

 found a suitable spot, and returned at once 

 to camp. 



Here I found a motley crowd gathered 

 around my cache. Some of them could 

 speak a few words of Chinook, and these at 

 once importuned me to see into my cache. 

 I replied: "This is my cache. Go look at 

 your own." Then the torment began. 

 They begged for flour, bacon, sugar, fruit. 

 They were hungry; some of their people 

 were sick, and could not eat meat; a thou- 

 sand pleadings were offered. I was adamant 

 and refused every petition. Even so small a 

 favor as a cup of tea I would not give. I 

 would not allow them to handle my rifles 

 nor did I open my cache during this tor- 

 ment, which lasted a week. This caused me 

 a week's loss of time. 



Did I fear them? No. I was afraid of 

 trouble, but not of the result. 



Finding me immovable the Indians at last 

 went away, all but one fellow, a much larger 

 man than I, who persistently dogged me 

 with his begging. Being present when I 

 opened my kitchen box a package of coffee 

 met his eye and he asked for it. On being 

 refused he called me " Delate cultus," which 

 means everything vile. I drove him away 

 with a club and ordered him not to return. 

 I now expected trouble, and prepared for it, 

 nor did I sleep much that night. In the 

 morning, much to my surprise I saw the ras- 

 cal going off down the river with his family. 

 It was a great relief when all were gone. 



As soon as settled in my new camp I pro- 

 ceeded to construct my boat. The various 

 plans that floated through my mind need 

 not be detailed here. Suffice it to say I de- 

 cided on a canvas boat. Searching through 

 my stores I found 2 strips of duck with 

 which I concluded I could cover a frame. 

 But the frame! There was the rub. Neces- 

 sity spurs invention, and I at last evolved 

 a plan. Let me give it briefly. The boat 

 was to be 24 feet long over all, keel 16 feet 

 long, 3 feet across bottom, 5 foot beam, and 

 21 inches deep. 



I felled 2 trees side by side, 4 feet apart, 

 from which I cut logs 30 feet long. These I 

 leveled. Across them I laid 6 sticks 6 feet 

 long, pinning them to the logs. Across the 

 centres of these (lengthwise of the logs) I 

 pinned a stick 6 inches in diameter, 24 feet 

 long. I hewed the ends to act as head- 

 blocks, to which I proposed to fasten my 

 bent timbers which should shape the boat. 

 Above this I erected a solid frame over 

 which the bent timbers must be shaped. 

 Cutting, hewing, and planing timbers was 

 the next work. Nearly 50 pieces were re- 

 quired, from 7.6 to 25 feet in length and from 

 /2X3 inches to 1*4 x 4 inches. These must 

 be of the best selected tough, young spruce, 



to make a frame at once light and strong. 

 To make, to bend, to fasten these, with no 

 help of any kind, meant work; but freed from 

 the annoyance of the Indians, I worked 

 early and late. 



The frame completed, I proceeded to 

 cover it with green spruce bark so as to stif- 

 fen my boat, and over this laid the canvas, 

 first spreading the inside of it with a heavy 

 coat of gum, which I gathered from the 

 forest within a radius of Yi mile. Having 

 laid the canvas I next coated it heavily on 

 the outside. Next oars were made and then 

 a steering sweep, and now my craft was 

 ready to launch. 



For 4 days the ice had been running. 

 The spring was at hand. Day and night the 

 ear had been stunned by the roar of grind- 

 ing ice, but on the fifth day the river began 

 to clear, and I got under my boat and re- 

 moving the timbers that supported her put 

 my shoulders under her centre, and inch by 

 inch moved her over the bank till she rested 

 on the sand near the water. 



Next morning I breakfasted at 5, pushed 

 the boat into the water, loaded my stuff into 

 her. and was ready to start at 8.40. Inasmuch 

 as I was about to launch upon an unknown 

 torrent where destruction might overtake 

 my frail bark at any moment, I constructed a 

 life raft of rubber bags lashed together with 

 a rope. On this I fastened a small ax, auger, 

 rope, 1 pair blankets, 7 bannocks, a small 

 slice of bacon, and bat-cotton to fill up. On 

 this I must rely, should mishap befall my 

 boat, to carry me on my journey. 



Stepping into the boat, I called Zilla and 

 fixed a place for him to lie down. I then in- 

 voked God's blessing and pushed off. The 

 current was fearfully rapid and we were soon 

 out of sight of my shipyard. 



The journey was long and fraught with 

 many dangers from floating ice and falling 

 trees, perplexed with treacherous eddies and 

 tangles of islands; but in 2 days I was at Fort 

 Liard, where Mr. McLeod, the Hudson Bay 

 Company's agent, received me cordially 

 and complimented me on my nerve. 



After several days' rest at Fort Liard, I 

 engaged Mr. McLeod's son John for the re- 

 mainder of the trip. He is well worth wait- 

 ing for, and I hope to bring him with me on 

 my return to New York. 



Leaving Fort Liard we halted 100 miles 

 below, at an Indian settlement, built a strong 

 cache, stored our stuff, secured an Indian 

 and his birch bark canoe, paddled back 15 

 miles, went into the Nahanna mountains, 

 and killed specimens of the White Sheep, 

 just where I had told Recreation almost 2 

 years ago I should get them. We also killed 

 moose on the trip, but — what is of more im- 

 portance — made a discovery in the domain 

 of zoology which I hope soon to report in 

 full — with specimens. The remainder of 

 the trip was made without mishap. 



I do not regret what has passed, but 

 would not repeat this experience for all the 

 gold in the North. 



