“Why, Captain, you do n’t call this low water, do you? 
In ’98 I went up the river with a load of horses that got 
stuck on a bar, and before we could get off again all the 
stock died of thirst. That is what I would say is really low 
water, for you!” 
As this is but the second boat up the Stickine this year, 
her departure is really quite an event. 
Churned our way up the river. We “stuck” several times 
on some sand bars, known as the “Hudson Bay Flats,” about Au ^ 27 th 
half way up, where the crew and some of the passengers spent 
their time chopping wood for fuel. The fact that it takes the 
Hazelton three and one-half or four days to travel the one 
hundred and fifty miles from Wrangle to Telegraph Creek, 
and but twelve hours to make the return trip, enables one 
to realize, if but slightly, the currents and rapids with which 
this boat has to contend. 
Time and again she came to a dead stop, stuck fast on 
a sand-bar or held back by the current, while the paddle- 
wheel churned the water into an angry foam. One to two 
thousand feet of cable would then be dragged along shore 
and fastened to some tree, when, by means of a powerful 
windlass, stationed on her bow, the ship would pull herself 
over the rapids and on through the swift water. It takes a 
captain of iron strength and nerve to pilot a boat under such 
conditions, and rarely a season goes by, either on the Skeena 
or Stickine, that one or more boats are not lost. 
Late this afternoon we passed through the Grand Canon 
of the Stickine. The scenery is really glorious here—far 
more magnificent and awe-inspiring than anything seen to 
date. 
After experiencing a great deal of difficulty making the 
rapids between Glenora (the Canadian Custom Station), and Aug. 29th 
Telegraph Creek (the passage of twelve miles consuming six 
hours) we arrived at the Creek, 2 P. M. 
Telegraph Creek is composed of the Hudson Bay post, the 
trading-post of John Hyland, a saloon, commissioner’s office, 
and some warehouses. Its population comprises twenty 
whites, and a remnant of the Tholtan Indians—about one 
hundred and twenty souls in all. 
Here, through the firm of Hyland & Belfry, we completed 
[173] 
