The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-10-23

fortunate explorer he would communicate to
them the sad intelligence of his death, and the
circumstances surrounding it. His bones
were buried by the hands of a stranger, and
his dying injunctons left on the cup reli-
| giOusly obeyed Terrible intelligence but it
| is only such as many a relative has received
| OF the one nearest and dearest to the heart.
Yet, in the face of all this, friends bound
| together by the most sacred ties of relation
ship, will ever continue to bring all and lay it
at the foot of the altar of tickle fortune. They
dream of gold and the luxuries with which it
surrounds them. They even see it in the dis
| tance almost feel its magic touch to the fin
gers. But they dwell not upon the toll, the
suffering Of the miners life, neither upon the
| cofiness grave on the rocky hillside or the
| dismal vale below.
William Cunningham was another Of the
| Oldest and most enthusiastic pioneers of Carl
| boo. He came here in 1861, located the Gun
| ningham claim, and took SIS 600 from it in
| the short space of twelve months. Not con
| tent with this sum, he went into various spe-
/ culations, and upon reckoning up accounts at
/ the end Of the year, found that his fortune
| had slipped away from him with the same
| ease and rspidity it had been acquired. The
stranger standing on the banks of the
/ Fraser just above Soda creek, can look away
| to the right, on the top of the neighboring
mountain range, and his eye will fall upon
| solitary grave, around which is a rude railing
with rough granite slab at the head, erected
| to the memory of William Cunningham, an
old pioneer of CaribOo.
In the former part of this article I attempted
/ to give a picture Of the bright side of the
miners life next some sketches of the dark
side; both, however, in kindness. If have
erred sin any way, it is an error of the head
! and not Of the heart My object in speaking
of the dark side is to give the reader Just
idea Of the subject. 1t does not by any means
follow that a fortune is to be had simply by
going for it to the mines. Many writers find
pleasure in dwelling at length and with elo-
quence upon the success that has crowned the
efforts of the few whom fortune has favored,
while they pass altogether gunnoticed the
great mass whose only rewards amount to dis
appointment, chagrin and remOrse.
THE ROUTE TO cARIBoo.
Victoria, the starting point for Cariboo,
stands upon as handsome a site as any town
on the Pacific coast, and its sanguine friends
are anxiously looking forward to the time
when 1t will eclipse all its rivals. There is
another class of persons anxiously looking for
the millennium. Whether the day on which
these two important events will transpire are
equally distant or not is question will not
attempt to decide.
From Victoria to New Westminsteris up the
Fraser river by miniature steamers. Formerly
Vancouver Island and British Columbia were
SCI arate colonies; they are now united under
one local government.
A smaller class of steamers run from New
Westminster, sixty miles further up the river,
to Fort Yale. This is pretty little town stu
ated on a flat of about fifteen acres, surrounded
by wall of mountains perpetually covered
with snow. 1t has fifteen or twenty stores,
groceries, ETC., ETC., and a remarkably neat
and comfortable hotel, kept by a charming
young widow, Mrs. BOwden, in fact, the only
handsome woman l have seen since leaving
California. Fort Yale is called the head of
navigation on the Fraser. From there to Soda
oreels PnsRenBerR conveyed by stage, the
road chiefly following the banks of the river,
here passing over the top of high mountain,
now down through low valley close to the
waters edge. The first mountain of any con-
siderable height is called Jackass. Some of
my tellow-passenger declared it was so named
| from the circumstance of the immortal Ere
| mont having eaten the Tump of an animal Of
| that species there; others that careless jack,
| in vending his way about the summit, missed
| his footsteps and tumbled to the base, dashing
| himself to pieces in the fall; which of the
| two versions is correct know not, nor do
| care: it is enough that the name is fitting for
! the locality.
| At Soda creek, which place we were three
| days and nights in reaching, was pretty little
| steamer, waiting to convey passengers, freight,
| etc. to the mouth of the Quesnelle, distance
of sixty miles. The change from a crowded
| stage coach to a comfortable steamboat is so
| agreeable that no time was lost in completing
the transfer of Ourself, etc., on board the En-
| terprise. / enjoyed an excellent supper and
| a good nights sleep, but was aroused early in
| the morning by runners Tapping on the doors
| and calling out, "Stage leaves for Cottonwood
at half-past D. be on board or you'll lose your
| passage"
The city of Cottonwood consists of one log
house, situated on the banks of a river of that
| name, twenty miles from the Quesnelle, and
is the end Of all public cOnveyance-indeed, is
| the end of the road. The mail and express
matter is carried semi-weekly to Williams
creek on horseback. Among the passengers
thus far by stage was a woman with two chill
| dren, one little boy about five years old, the
| other an infant of about as many weeks, the
mother and children being ticl1eted through
| 10y express. horse was provided, which she
| gallantly mounted, taking her little treasure
in her arms, and the larger boy on the horse
behind, and started Off with apparently as
much cheerulness as a youthful bride going
ont to meet her young lord. The writer, with
the remainder of the passengers, started
out on foot, and managed to paddle
through mud and water seventeen miles the
lTst day. The second days march was still
worse than the first, less mud but more snow
and 1t had sufficiently given way to the rays
OF the sun to become in substance like Jelly,
through hich we walked for miles up TO the
knees. 1t is all very well, in romance, to talk
about tording rivers and wading through drifts
of snow, scrambling over old logs, Wriggling
/ VOUr WaV thrOuph tbiclr sl, ,y,No5 ol;I,6;nr