The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-11 00:00:00

body is taken to the island graveyaa d, in the river,
and placed in a box built of splint rit icks, and raised
a few feet from the ground. They have no idea of
except that heaven is above and hell
There is no devil, no evil spirits. Their
peuelsw fhmtur
. e en,
tis absence from God. Many of them
thbnioa
believe in nothing, and laugh when God, heaven,
hell, or a future hfe are Mentioned. They are vain,
and dress extravagantly when they have money.
White shirts, black coats, &c., are 'common among
them. The Indians along Fraser River, to the head
of the big canon, all speak the same language, and
are supposed to be one tribe. Aboi,re the canon the
Coteans reside, with whom the Lan.gleys are always
at war. They live chiefly on salmon, which are
caught in great quantities at this Treason, and dried,
then placed for preservation in a box, called pau-
go-ee, lashed into the branches of.tall trees. When
the berries, and the summer supply of food is gone,
they resort to those depots, arid live upon fish,
through the long winter. The 'habits of some of
them are changing now. We often see them with
loaves of bread, pie or cake, bought at the bakery.
They sustain a bad character among the miners,
whose experience proves them to be treacherous,
thievish liars, and always ready to break an engage-
ment when they can do so in safety. At present
they have no fear of pv:fliskrient ; but the patience
of the Bostons is nearly exhausted. I have heard
threats of a war of. extermination. They are use-
ful, however ; Doer it is not considered safe to navi-
gate the river without one Indian pilot.
" Mr. Walker gives me some particulars concern-
ing the climate, which will be interesting at this
time. The cold is not so severe nor so long con-
tinned as might be supposed from the high latitude
and mountainous features of the country. Snow
never remains long upon the ground in the valley,
though it at times falls to the depth of three and five
feet. In winter the mountains are covered with
snow close down and the air is chilly. The climate
is very variable, and the changes sudden, violent,
and of the most disagreeable character. A
strong wind blows in the afternoon, raising
clouds of dust. At this time the mornings
and some of the evenings are delightful.
We rise so earl, P.nd the daylight lingers so-
long, that we o tea fall asleep before night. The
skies, except an occasional shower, are now cloud-
less. The mr.,on is growing, and the bright stars
of lingering twilight make almost a perpetual day.
It is not pleasant to look upon the contrast between
man 'and nature now. The one is bright and cheer-
ful, and inviting to labour • the other lying listless,
bound hand and foot. These precious days a thorn
—all wasted—the hopes of each are becoming an
illusion, a vanity, a vexation of spirit—picks,
shovels, and rockers lying idle—and flour, pork,
and beans, being exhausted.
" In May and June there is considerable rain at
intervals. As the sun gets north and warm, the
snows melt, and the rivers, which have been swell-
ing gradually, reach their height about the 20th
of July, when the water begins slowly to abate,
and continues going down until it is at its lowest
stage in January. At that time the river at Fort
Hope is not more than 60 yards wide. It never
freezes in the upper river : the current is too rapid.
At Fort Langley, above and below, where the
water is sluggish, it always freezes hard. Through
August and September it is pleasant, and many
varieties of berries ripen in the woods—occasionally
rain falls. In October commences the wet season
—heavy, cold, drizzling rains, accompanied with
wind. The sun becomes obscure, and a fire
is needed in the evening. November continues the
same, the sun almost constantly obscured by heavy
fogs and clouds. The tops of the mountains are
never seen for the mists that envelop them ; and
these fogs and clouds enveloping the snow are
supposed materially to modify the temperature. It
is time now for the Indians to retire into their
winter house, where they remain with blazing fires
until they are forced out to climb the trees, and
open the pau-go-eel for salmon.
It is not until the middle of December that grim
winter shows his hoary locks, ' and binds in icy
fetters fast' all this mountain world. Then the
cold becomes intense, requiring furs and big warm
fires. The river becomes choked with drift ice,
broken, from the lakes above, and sent down on
the current. In sluggish places this ice forms a
barrier resembling the floe described by Arctic
explorers, so densely packed that it may be crossed
in safety. This extreme cold, which freezes up all
active out-door operations, continues but a short
time. In 1857 this cold continued 25 days, and the
river was entirely blocked with ice. In 1858 the
frost continued only 14 days, and did not arrive
until Ist February. January was chilly, but no
frost ; but from October to February the sun was
scarcely visible through the fogs and clouds, and
the cool drizzling rains were frequent. In March
and April the snows melt, and the river rises slowly,
but recedes again in May, when it again rises, and
reaches its highest point in June and July.
Except the cold snap which follows the rains and
fogs of October, November, and December, there is
no frost in the river valley, but there are many days
so uncomfortable that it would require a very de-
termined man to brave them. Daylight breaks at
this lace at seven in the morning, and it is dark at
five, and there are not more than seven working
hours in the short days. From the time the river
begins to fall until it rises and covers the bars is.
about nine months, and of those nine there are at
least seven and a half of working days, and those,
days not averaging more than eight hours in
length. lam told that at low water there are bars
making out into the river from all points, and
stretching for long distances; and it is from these
bars that all the people who are waiting intend
to pay themselves for their delays, fatigues, and
anxieties. Will they be able to do it ? Everybody
says yes ; and there is room enough for all, who
may come and get rich. Does everybody' speak
the truth? Qui vivra verra.
" Musquitoes and small gnats swarm here and
are very annoying, and I have been poisoned fre-
quently by the bite of a black ant. Flies are
abundant. Bugs are scarce. There are but few
birds ; this surprises me when I look at the profu-
sion of berries and the dense woods. I have not
seen a squirrel nor any other wild animal; not even
a snake. In the Fort are two cats, and the Indians
have a dog which must be a cross with a fox. Igo
out into the mountains and get lost in the thickets
—the stillness almost alarms me. There is no sound
except the heavy, mournful sighing of the wind
through the trees. The heavens are above and the
forest around. There is grandeur and magnificence
in it all ; but in the feeling of awe which the silence
imposes, one longs for a voice, if it were only a
bird's, to break the spell that steals over the senses.
" Ten miles below Fort Langley, Pitt River emp-
ties into Fraser from the north. Mr. Lance
Nightingale, who has prospected many hundreds of
miles on these rivers, and who gives a glowing ac-
count of all he has seen, and who has the utmost
confidence in every river he has visited, except
Thompson, made a trip up Pitt River in the spring.
After ascending the river 15 miles he came to a
chain of lakes 60 miles long, with water clear and
deep, surrounded by high snowy mountains. Above
the lakes the river is very rapid, and he was only
able to ascend ten miles in his canoe. Found gold
and black sand everywhere. The Indians were
friendly, but very shy of whites. The (chief told
him no white men had ever been there, and there
were no traces of them 40 be found. There was
plenty of quartz, and the country had the appear-
ance of barrenness, which indicates the gold region.
The party was not able to prospect much. The
chief, on seeing a quartz specimen, said there was
plenty of the same further up the river, and offered
to point out the place.
" A party of twenty men came in from Thomp-
son River. They are particularly
.down on the
country. They don't believe .there is gold there,
and advise all persons to avoid the region of the
fort for its inhospitality and barrenness. Fresh
beef is the only article to be had in abundance, but
white men cannot live on fresh beef alone. They
state that most travellers turn aside now, and go
up Fraser's, towards the sources of which rumour
clothes the earth with shining particles. It is far
up, but every one hopes to reach it, and all are
satisfied if there is only gold ; they can bear the
winter's cold, and work through the short days that
scarcely flash
of
day light upon the frozen earth. I
hear them say
theylong twilight. It
hope to be able to make use of the
e winteredt al keuduring hardships. They say
mensurprises me, the confidence with
whichha menv
in regions far above where they
propose to go, and lived to tell them tales—and
why cannot they do the same ? Perhapsthey can ;
for the human will is a powerful engine, and
has
performed wonders. Somewonderful develop-
ments in the form of human endurance are doubt-
less about to be made known.
"Mr. J. Waugh, of Victoria, has a claim upon
Sailor's Bar, which he took
up inApril. The river
was low, and he able
was to work after making a
rocker out of a pine t •
knife. He has been ice with an axe and a jack-
since he went' utable to work but seven weeks
river, and in that time he
shows as a result of the river,
I have just seeninto
suthe hands of Mr. Walker,
same source, and affirms thmeetrunitlihe pounds from the
of his story.
"Patsy, Banta, and several more of th
characters, who left San Francisco, unamiable
and have
con-
gregated on this river, were in town yesterday,
drunk and quarrelsome. They were gambling
all
the night previous, and created much disturbance
by shooting off pistols and threatened violence.
They broke up the crockery in several places, and
wound up with a general row in M'Kenzie's cabin,
where they whipped Mac severely, and were them-
selves severely cut and bruised. This morning they
are very sad and gentle.
They are well known
here, but the people would rather they would /Aye