Читать книгу The Rocks and Rivers of British Columbia - Walter Moberly - Страница 10

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The trip from Victoria to Fort Langley was not pleasant, as the weather was boisterous and rainy, and the steamer crowded. On reaching Fort Langley a most hospitable reception awaited me from Chief-Factor Yale, then—and, as he afterwards informed me, for thirty years previous—in charge of that large and important fort. I here met with several of the officers of the company, all of whom were most kind and gave me a great deal of information. The following day the little steamer Enterprise (Capt. Tom Wright) started up the Fraser for Fort Yale, and I took passage on her. As a number of passengers were struggling through the mud to get on board, we were greatly encouraged by the captain’s words, in blowing the last whistle, “Hurry up, boys, as the steamer is going to blow up in forty seconds, and I can’t wait.” About noon next day, after a passage made disagreeable by the rain and snow and crowded steamer, a number of us got off at the Indian village at the mouth of the Harrison River, the Enterprise going on by the Fraser to Fort Yale. We here heard rumours of a war having broken out between the Indians and miners on the Fraser somewhere above Yale. I then packed my blankets into a large Indian house or rancherie close at hand, to get out of the snow and rain, and a trader, who wanted to send a large canoe of goods and whisky up to Port Douglas, said if I could “raise” a crew, and take charge of the goods, we should feed ourselves out of the cargo and make our way over Harrison Lake, which is some forty miles in length. I collected a crew in a few minutes, but they proved a bad crew. We poled the canoe up to the rapids, a short distance below Harrison Lake. Here night overtook us when opposite an Indian village, composed of several large rancheries, and a few hundred Indians. The evening was cold, wet, and gloomy, and the river banks low and swampy. I ran the bow of the canoe into one of the little doors of a large house. The Indians cleared a corner for us, and made a small fire at which we cooked some bacon, &c., and having brought our cargo in we lay down on some mats around the fire. What with the stories I had heard of the Indians, and the cargo of whisky with me, I could not sleep, expecting to be murdered at any moment. I lay with my overcoat over me, facing the numerous fires in all parts of the building, around which the Indians were sleeping, and with my revolver in my hand felt ready for any emergency. The fires were gradually going out, with the exception of our own, when I saw a tall Indian rise out of his blankets, clad only in a shirt, and taking a careful look all around, advance in our direction, stepping carefully over the sleeping forms of the intervening Indians, and holding his hands behind him. I thought it was all “up” with us, for I imagined he had a knife in his hand, so I cocked my revolver in readiness to shoot. He came to the fire, took a careful look at us and quietly turned round to warm his back, when I saw he had only a pipe in his hand, instead of the dreaded knife. That Indian had a narrow escape, and so had we, for had I shot him we should not have been alive many seconds. I rose and offered the Indian a piece of tobacco, and he then went away and brought me a piece of dried salmon, which I ate, and we became very good friends, so far, at least, as we could, for neither of us understood a word the other said. The next and two following days we made very bad headway against a strong wind, but at last arrived at the little stream connecting the small circular lake, upon which Port Douglas is situate, with the north end of Harrison Lake. On entering the stream we ran against the sharp edge of some newly-formed ice and split the bow of our log canoe, which caused it to sink almost immediately. The crew shouldered their blankets, and left me with a young lad to do the best we could with the cargo and ourselves. I managed to get hold of some Indians who were passing, and engaged them to pack the cargo to the trader’s store, myself taking up quarters in a long wooden building with a bar at one end, and miners and packers drinking and gambling all round the room.