THE HORSE PARTY ARRIVES AT LAST, BUT WITH HALF THE HORSES STOLEN--THE
START ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS--MORE BLACKFEET IN THE WAY OBLIGE THE PARTY
TO TAKE A STRANGE PASS--IT BECOMES COLDER--SNOW COMES ON--A PACK OF
WOLVES--SLEIGHS AND SNOW-SHOES--IN THE HEART OF THE "ROCKIES"--CORNEY
HAS A NARROW ESCAPE AND A COLD BATH--SNOW IN THE CANOES--DIFFICULTIES OF
THE WAY--THE PASS AT LAST--A FEARFUL AVALANCHE.
Several days passed by. We were not molested by the Indians, but the
horses did not arrive. Uncle Donald never fretted or fumed, though it
was enough to try his temper. I asked him to allow me to set off with
Corney and Pierre to ascertain if they had gone by mistake to any other
place. We were on the point of starting when we saw a party of horses
and men approaching. They proved to be those we were expecting, but
there were only eight horses, less than half the number we had sent off.
The men in charge had a sad account to give. The rest had been stolen
by Indians, and one of their party had been killed, while they had to
make a long round to escape from the thieves, who would otherwise very
likely have carried off the remainder. The men also had brought a dozen
dogs--our three especial favourites being among them--to be used in
dragging our sleighs in case the horses should be unable to get through.
We had carried the materials for forming sleighs with us in the canoes,
while the harness had been transported thus far with the other packages
by the horses. The poor beasts, though very thin, were better than no
horses at all. There were a sufficient number to convey our stores and
provisions, one for Uncle Donald, who carried Rose on his saddle, and
two others for Hugh and me. The rest of the party had to proceed on
foot. I offered mine to Madge, but she declared that she could walk
better than I could.
We made a short day's journey, but the poor animals were so weak that we
were compelled to camp again at a spot where there was plenty of grass.
It was here absolutely necessary to remain three days to enable them to
regain their strength.
While we were in camp Uncle Donald sent out Pierre and one of our
Indians to try and ascertain if any of the Blackfeet were still hovering
in the direction we proposed taking across the mountains. We did not
wait for the return of our scouts, but started at the time proposed,
expecting to meet them on the road we should travel.
We were engaged in forming our camp, collecting wood for the fires, and
putting up rough huts, or rather arbours of boughs, as a protection from
the wind--which here coming off the snowy mountains was exceedingly cold
at night--while the gloom of evening was coming on, when one of the men
on watch shouted--
"The enemy! the enemy are upon us!"
While some of our people ran out intending to bring in the horses, the
rest of us flew to our arms.
Uncle Donald, taking his rifle, at once went out in the direction in
which the sentry declared he had seen the band of savages coming over
the hill.
Our alarm was put an end to when, shortly afterwards, he came back
accompanied by Pierre and his companion, who brought the unsatisfactory
intelligence that a large body of Blackfeet were encamped near the pass
by which we had intended to descend into the plains of the Saskatchewan.
Ever prompt in action, Uncle Donald decided at once to take a more
northerly pass.
The country through which we were travelling was wild and rugged in the
extreme; frequently we had to cross the same stream over and over again
to find a practicable road. Now we had to proceed along the bottom of a
deep valley among lofty trees, then to climb up a steep height by a
zigzag course, and once more to descend into another valley. Heavily
laden as were both horses and men, our progress was of necessity slow.
Sometimes after travelling a whole day we found that we had not made
good in a straight line more than eight or ten miles.
The weather hitherto had been remarkably fine, and Hugh and Rose and I
agreed that we enjoyed our journey amazingly. Our hunters went out
every day after we had camped, and sometimes before we started in the
morning, or while we were moving along, and never failed to bring in
several deer, so that we were well supplied with food. The cold at
night was very considerable; but with good fires blazing, and wrapped up
in buffalo-robes, we did not feel it; and when the sun shone brightly
the air was so pure and fresh that we were scarcely aware how rapidly
winter was approaching.
It should be understood that there are several passes through the lofty
range it was our object to cross. These passes had been formed by the
mountains being rent asunder by some mighty convulsion of nature. All
of them are many miles in length, and in some places several in width;
now the pass presents a narrow gorge, now expands into a wide valley.
The highest point is called the watershed, where there is either a
single small lake, or a succession of lakelets, from which the water
flows either eastward through the Saskatchewan or Athabasca rivers, to
find its way ultimately into the Arctic Ocean, or westward, by
numberless tributaries, into the Fraser or Columbia rivers, which fall,
after making numerous bends, into the Pacific.
We had voyaged in our canoes up one of the larger tributaries of the
Fraser, and had now to follow to its source at the watershed one of the
smaller streams which flowed, twisting and turning, through the dense
forests and wild and rugged hills rising on every side.
The country had become more and more difficult as we advanced, and
frequently we had to wind our way in single file round the mountains by
a narrow path scarcely affording foothold to our horses. Sometimes on
one side, sometimes on the other were steep precipices, over which, by a
false step, either we or our animals might be whirled into the roaring
torrent below. Now we had to force a road through the tangled forest to
cut off an angle of the stream, and then to pass along narrow gorges,
beetling cliffs frowning above our heads, and almost shutting out the
light of day.
At length we camped on higher ground than any we had yet reached. On
one side was a forest, on the other a rapid stream came foaming by. The
sky was overcast, so that, expecting rain, we put up all the shelter we
could command.
The hunters having brought in a good supply of meat, our people were in
good spirits, and seemed to have forgotten the dangers we had gone
through, while they did not trouble themselves by thinking of those we
might have to encounter. We had no longer hostile Indians to fear; but
we still kept a watch at night in case a prowling grizzly or pack of
hungry wolves might pay the camp a visit. The wind blew cold; not a
star was visible. The light from our fire threw a lurid glare on the
stems and boughs of the trees and the tops of the rugged rocks which
rose beyond.
Having said good night to Rose, whom we saw stowed away in her snug
little bower, Hugh and I lay down a short distance from the fire,
sheltered by some of the packages piled up at our heads. Uncle Donald
was not far from us. On the other side were Pierre and Corney and Red
Squirrel, while Madge took her post, disdaining more shelter than the
men, close to Rose's hut. Two of the men kept awake, one watching the
camp, the other the horses, and the rest lay in a row on the opposite
side of the fire.
Such was the scene I looked on till, completely covering my head up in a
buffalo-robe, I closed my eyes. I was awakened by finding an unusual
weight above me. I threw my arms about, when down came a cold shower on
my face and clearing my eyes I could just see the snow on every side,
while my body was completely covered up. I was perfectly warm, however,
and felt no inclination to get out of my cosy bed to brush the snow
away. I drew my robe again over my head; being well assured that Uncle
Donald would arouse us if there was any risk of our being completely
covered up. How much longer I had slept I could not tell, when I was
once more awakened by a terrific howling, yelping, the barking of dogs,
the trampling and snorting of horses, followed by the shouts and shrieks
of our men.
I speedily drew myself out of my snowy burrow, and through the gloom I
caught sight of our horses endeavouring to defend themselves by kicking
out with their heels against a pack of wolves which had followed them up
to the camp, and Uncle Donald with the men engaged, some with their
rifles and others with sticks, in endeavouring to drive off the savage
brutes, but they were afraid of firing, for fear of wounding the horses.
I felt about for Hugh, who being covered up by the snow, had not been
awakened by the din.
"What is happening?" he exclaimed, sitting up. "Are the Indians upon
us?"
"Only some hungry wolves, and we are all right," I said.
"Why, I fancy it has been snowing!" he exclaimed.
"I should think so," I answered. "Come, jump up, we'll help put those
brutes to flight."
When the wolves found themselves encountered by human beings, they
quickly turned tail, but we had some difficulty in catching the
frightened horses, and I was just in time to seize one which was on the
point of dashing into Rose's hut. As it was almost daylight, no one
again turned in; the fires were made up, and we began cooking our
morning meal.
The snow continued to fall so heavily, that Uncle Donald decided to
remain where we were, or rather to form another camp more under shelter
of the trees. To proceed with the horses would have been almost
impossible, and he therefore settled to send them back and to prepare
the sleighs and snow-shoes for the rest of our journey. A sleigh is
simply a thin board, ten feet long and about a foot broad, turned up at
one end. The baggage is secured to it by leathern thongs.
To form a cariole, a cradle or framework like the body of a small
carriage is fixed on a sleigh such as I have just described, and is
covered with buffalo skin parchment, the inside being lined with a
buffalo-robe. When the traveller is seated in a cariole with
outstretched legs, he is only separated from the snow by the thin plank
which forms the floor. The dogs which drag the sleighs are attached to
them by leathern thongs and collars generally decorated with bead work
and tassels, surmounted by arches, to which are suspended strings of
small bells. We had brought a supply of snow-shoes and moccasins for
all the party. The snow-shoe is an oval frame five or six feet in
length, about one in width, the intermediate space being filled with
network, except a hole in the centre for the heel of the wearer. It is
attached to the foot by leathern thongs. All hands were busily engaged
in putting the sleighs together, fitting the harness to the dogs, and
arranging the cargoes. The horses were sent back. The canoe men had
taken their departure, and our party now consisted of Uncle Donald,
Rose, Hugh and I, Pierre, Corney, Madge, Red Squirrel, and four Indians.
We had to wait until the snow had somewhat hardened, and the stream up
which we were to proceed had been frozen over. Uncle Donald had made
for Rose to sleep in a bag of buffalo-robes lined with softer furs,
which kept her perfectly warm. She was the only person who was to enjoy
the privilege of a sleigh, drawn by Whiskey and Pilot, and guided by
Uncle Donald. The rest of us were to travel on snow-shoes, a mode of
proceeding which, though fatiguing, kept us warm.
The last night of our stay in camp arrived. We were to start, should
the weather be propitious, the next morning. Soon after we turned in
for the night, before I had fallen asleep, I was greatly surprised to
hear the sound of chopping in a wood at no great distance off. I called
to Hugh, he heard it also, as did Uncle Donald.
One after the other the men expressed their wonder at the sound.
Corney, who was on guard, walked a few paces in the direction from
whence it came, evidently thinking that something was wrong, but he soon
returned, declaring that he could see no one. Suddenly there came the
crash of a falling tree. After this mysterious occurrence, nothing
could induce him to go up to the spot, though it could not have been
more than two hundred yards off. No one had been seen on the previous
evening, and had Indians been there, they would have observed our fire,
and would long ere this have gathered round it.
What Uncle Donald thought I could not tell, he certainly did not get up
to try and solve the mystery, nor did any of the Indians. Night passed
away without disturbance, and the next morning, though Hugh, and Pierre,
and I made a circuit of the camp, we could discover no footsteps to
indicate that any one had been in the neighbourhood, nor signs of
chopping, nor a fallen tree, so that the mystery remained unexplained.
Breakfast over, our four Indians were sent ahead to trample down the
snow with their snow-shoes, the loaded sleighs following, driven by the
other men and Madge, who was as good a driver as any of them, Uncle
Donald in charge of Rose bringing up the rear with Hugh and me. Such
was to be our proceeding for many a day, until we were over the
mountains.
We were now in the heart of the "Rockies." The valley of the river we
were following was about a mile wide, and on either side rose high rocky
peaks, covered with perpetual snow, among which big-horns could be seen
watching us, the intruders into their domains, and daring us, as it
were, to scale the glaciers and meet them on their own ground.
We several times met with moose, one of which was shot nearly every day
to supply our camp with meat. We were anticipating getting through the
pass without difficulty, when we found ourselves at the bottom of a fall
a hundred feet in height, with thickly timbered hills on each side,
which, rising abruptly from the water's edge, seemed to offer no footing
even for a snow-shoe, much less a practicable trail for dog-sleighs.
Uncle Donald was not to be defeated, however, and at once ordered a
regular track, graded round the face of the bluffs, to be formed. By
using snow-shoes as shovels, and poles and brush for bridges, we crossed
the intervening gullies and reached the edge of the first fall. Going
on a mile further, we found the river confined between perpendicular
walls of rock, up which there was no climbing. We had to form another
path, carrying it over ledges of rock, banks of ice and snow, making
bridges from one huge boulder to another with the dark water boiling at
our feet ready to engulf any one who might make a false step.
To our joy, the formidable obstacle being surmounted, the good ice was
reached at last, when we pushed on, the dogs trotting gaily along, and
we following behind.
But ere long another fall barred our progress. Before attempting to
surmount it, we halted for dinner.
As I was looking up I espied a big-horn, or mountain goat, and believing
that we could get near enough to shoot it, Hugh and I set off with our
guns. The animal is about the size of a common sheep, with conical
horns, nearly three feet long, and forming a complete circle, but so
thick is the wool which covers its head and body that their full length
is not seen.
"Sure, you'll not be gettin' up after that baste!" I heard Corney say,
he having followed us.
"We'll try," I answered, and began ascending the steep rocks. The
difficulties were greater than we expected, but still we did not like to
be defeated. We had been deceived by the clearness of the atmosphere,
and after climbing up and up, the goat appeared as far off as ever.
Presently he saw us, and off he bounded, springing along places where it
would have been madness to follow.
"I tould ye so!" cried Corney from below, for he had still followed us.
"Ye must git above one of those gentlemen if you want to shoot him. Now
dinner will be cooked, and we had better be after getting down to eat
it." We accordingly descended to where we had left our snow-shoes.
"Stop a moment!" cried Corney. "Just let me get a drink of water, for I
see a rill dripping over a rock there."
Corney accordingly made his way up to the perpendicular bank, but
scarcely had he reached it, when, to our horror, there was a crash, and
he suddenly disappeared, leaving, however, his long pole behind him.
I knew that the river was running like a mill sluice down below, so
rushing forward I shoved the pole across the opening, and holding it in
one hand, as I threw myself flat on the ice, I thrust down my arm. To
my relief, I felt Corney's head as he came to the surface, and seizing
his hair, hauled away with might and main. Hugh now assisted me, and we
managed to drag up the Irishman from his fearfully perilous position.
It required caution, however, to get him on the ice, as that at any
moment might give way, and we should have to share the fate from which
we were trying to rescue him.
"Arrah! the spalpeens! why don't they help us?" cried Corney. "Shout,
Mr Archie! shout, Mr Hugh!"
Our cries brought Pierre, who was nearest at hand, carrying a long rope
and a pole.
By resting on the poles, and lowering the rope with a bowline knot at
the end, we got it under his arms, and soon hauling him upon the ice, we
hurried away from the dangerous spot.
He was none the worse for his dip, though it was no joke to be plunged
head over ears in that icy cold water. Several of the other men fell in
at different times, for although it was freezing hard the rapidity of
the current prevented the ice forming securely in many places. We had
occasionally, therefore, to leave the river and to make our way through
the forest--no easy undertaking. But we could get through any places,
provided they were more than two feet wide. When camping, we shovelled
away the snow until we reached the moss on which we formed our beds;
then we made our fire in the centre of the hole, and took our places
round it.
When we went to sleep it was pretty deep, but in the morning, on getting
up, I found that I could not see over the wall of snow. By beating down
the edges, however, we managed to climb out.
In spite of the depth of the snow, we travelled on, though as our
snow-shoes sank in places nearly a foot deep, the fatigue was very
great. Rose laughed heartily as she saw us trudging on, and wanted Hugh
to take her place in the sleigh and let her go on foot while he rested.
Again we came to a more mighty canyon than any we had yet encountered.
This necessitated a detour, to avoid it, of about three miles overland.
A canyon, from the Spanish, is a deep gully or gorge, either with a
river or stream flowing through the bottom or not, but the canyons in
this part of the Rockies nearly always have a stream at the bottom.
We had again reached the river where it flowed on a more even course.
It was entirely frozen over, but we were high above it, and the
difficulty was to get down.
Pierre was the first to start. Away went the dogs with the sleigh,
Pierre hauling it back and trying to stop its way. But all would not
do, and presently he, dogs, and sleigh, went rolling over and over,
until they plunged into the snow at the bottom, to a considerable depth.
"Och sure I'll be wiser," cried Corney; and he made fast a tail rope to
a tree, thus enabling him to lower it gently for a short distance at a
time. In slipping it, however, from one tree to another, the sleigh
gathered way, but scarcely had it got abreast of the dogs than it
sheered off on one side of a small tree, the dogs rolling on the other.
The tree--a mere sapling--bent, and the impetus carried the whole train
nearly twenty feet out towards its end--the dogs hanging by their traces
on one side, counterbalancing the sleigh on the other, where they swayed
to and fro in the most ludicrous fashion, yelping, barking, and
struggling to get free, and running a great risk of being hanged.
"Surely I'll be afther losin' me dogs, and the sleigh will be dashed to
pieces!" cried Corney, wringing his hands in his despair.
Uncle Donald told us to take charge of Rose; then springing down the
bank with the agility of a young man, axe in hand, with a few blows he
cut the traces and set the poor dogs free, while the sleigh bounded down
the hill into the snow at the bottom, where Pierre was trying to put his
train to rights, the new arrival adding not a little to his
difficulties.
Fearing that Rose might meet with a similar accident, Uncle Donald,
taking her in his arms, carried her down, while Hugh and I managed the
sleigh. As soon as we were all to rights, we had the satisfaction of
seeing before us a clear "glare" of ice. The dogs, entering into our
feelings, set off at a scamper to cross it.
In less than an hour we had got over a greater distance than we had the
whole of the previous day. We had now reached the entrance to the pass.
On either side rose pyramidical peaks, covered with perpetual snow,
three thousand feet above the valley. Shortly afterwards we came to the
foot of a magnificent glacier, which must have been scarcely less than a
mile in length and several hundred feet in height. As we had made a
good day's journey, and evening was approaching, Uncle Donald was
looking out for a place at which to camp. We had just fixed on a spot
on the bank of the river at the edge of a thick belt of trees, which
here intervened between it and the cliffs, when a roar as of distant
thunder reached our ears.
"Look out! look out!" cried the Indians in chorus, and they pointed
upwards.
We did look, and there we saw the whole side of the mountain, as it
seemed, in movement. Huge rocks and vast masses of ice came rolling
down towards the spot we were passing over, threatening to overwhelm us.
Down rushed the fearful avalanche. One huge rock was so directing its
course that our destruction seemed certain, when it crashed in among the
trees, tearing several up by the roots, but meeting with one of a larger
size, just before it readied us, it was turned aside, and forcing its
way through the remainder, it plunged into the river, not many feet from
where we stood.
As may be supposed, we did not camp at that spot, but, thankful for our
preservation, pushed on to where, the valley slightly widening out, we
ran less risk of being overwhelmed by an avalanche.