Fort George, B. C., 19th Dec.,
1874.
My Dear Edward,—
I wrote you on the eve of our departure from Quesnelle and I now
continue from that point. We got away from Quesnelle on the 8th about 12 noon
with teams pretty well loaded with grub and other supplies. Ben Gillis
"set it out for us," and the whole town turned out to bid us
"God speed." They had a very exalted idea of the pleasure to be derived
from our trip across tho mountains and we heard many prophecies in regard to
our going to destruction. In fact the last words we heard were "God bless
you old fellows—good-bye; this is the last time we will see you," &c.,
&c., not a very pleasant starter but we came off in no very desponding
frame of mind. We found the trail for a short distance very good, it having
been kept broken by some ranch men who live a short distance above, but it was
hilly and side hill at that, so that with upsets, broken sled and other
disasters being the results, we found ourselves at dark only 3 miles from Quesnelle.
We struck for the last house and got to Pollock's at 6, rather used up and
having left one load behind. Pollock was kind and gave us a supper and a place
for the dogs who also were played out.
The next day we mended broken sleds and broke a track a few miles out
so that the start might be a good one. I also went back and brought up the
cached sled. On the 10th we made a fresh start, and loft some of our stores at
Pollock's, as the sleds were altogether too heavy for such a trail as this
promised to turn out, and hero I might say a word about the trail. It was built
by some telegraph company (I forgot which) who proposed to run a telegraph
line up north to Behring’s Straits and thence to Asia by a short cable. The line
was actually in working order for some 200 miles, when the news of the success
of the Atlantic cable put a stop to the operations. The director and promoters
of the scheme died of the disappointment, and the company left everything as it
then was. The wire now hangs broken and twisted from the posts, the greater
part of the offices are burned down and the only result of such a vast expenditure of
money is the trail we take on our way to Fort George. On the 10th, we took a final leave
of civilization and started off. After a hard day we made camp only 7 miles from Pollock’s
or 10 miles from Quesnelle. Our camp was most primitive,
being a piece of cotton thrown over poles stuck in the snow sloping towards the
fire. This served to keep the wind from our heads at any rate and we certainly
were able to enjoy a good sleep after the day's labours.
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