, 1879-04-05


A blind outfit ON blind trail in a blind
ing snow storm, is what | call, ''going it
blind" No body straddled the blind, but
We all straddled our cayuses, and started
| for the 0kanagan pass That is We passed
the blind We then raised" across the
mountains Mr. Siwash .,saw US" and We
called" in the celebrated Okanagan Smith,
of quartz fame. Our friend Smith is a
character of some pretentions at the Asooy-
Oos lake; he controls its a,ers; he drains
fish from it, and l am credibly informed he
| has actually been known TO lave In it. A
picnic TO the lake IN January. or February,
is very enjoyable 1t is only $50 miles from
the city OF Colvilie. and one has once to try
| it TO appreciate it. You leave Colville at any
hour you please, day or night, taking an out
! side passage on the United States, and
! British Columbia Royal Mail" Cayuse, or
+ s!Gw shOes, suit yourself Arriving at the
! Columbia, you crosS-Ii Won can, hut don't
get cross if you can't. Many lndiaii caIoes
aud very fine ferry boat somewhat
larger than a wheel-barrow, are at your SER
vice. at slight expense of a few "daddics,
/ After YOU '-copa-nika -inati-hyas- chuck
you put up at the Siwash hotel. or, put up
| your tent and sleep on the pure virgin
Snow Truly a luxurious couch for the most
| fastidious. The fare Is good; hard tack
and pork; done up brown; starting next
| morning Teeiius as iI,ei, is "a boiled owl"
| How do boiled owls ieei! You approach by
gentle ascents, the beautiful pot river
Kettle RIVER should have said, aud by care
| ful and steady observations, you keep this
in sight for several hundred miles-more or
! l., ,
| If yulSlike, but several times If you like
or not If the ice is strong which is usually
the case at this season, you can cross on 1t,
il you naYe not eaten too hearty breakfast,
then your avoirdupois may interfere. and
! leave You in the river, as Paddy did with the
| dirty recruit. Yes, We crossed Oh the ice
and didn't leave anybody either Why sir,
Napo!ean crossing the Delaware or Emperor
| Norton crossing the Alps was not a compari
| son to the ie;.t performed by that devoted
! little band going 1t blind, across that con-
| founded Tea keatle. 1t was grand, mag
niticent sight, a spectacle only equaled by
Shermans, march to the sea. When We APP
preached its icy banks, how we wished We
were on the other side, and when We We're
halfway across, how We wished We We're
back boiling our mama 5 kettle, or anyhody
eise's kettle but that one particular, icy,
treacherous kettle we We're investigating,
and didn't want to, the beautiful camps
along its snowy banks, the delightful
feathers for our bed culled FROM Eeighbcring
trees and the ax!liliratiug freeze that a fel
low would get in the cool of the evening,
was only surpassed by The charming fall Ct
snow next morning, while the gentle
zephyrs blew to COO. your 10y brow. An
occasional dromedary-the long cared species
would 20 sliding down from some NOUN
tain ridge pack and all, to the river
edge, to take Il drink, | suppose, bat he
stood not III the manner Of hls gong 1t
reminded me SD much of boyhood days,
when we used to lay full length IN some
grassy s:Ga Eiil, aad then Iqll down. So 1t
was III this case with those tour-les9sed halt
breed, 0v Brevet horses, what fun 1t made
for orr Cd.yrlOre, and our pack master-gen-
er J. but h. was pious man, he d,dnt say
n.u :h-but was 4 ID to think; what a
mind that man had for thinking; an old
mintr of days gone by, he Couia think how
many hundred Thousand dollars he has lost,
And might nave had, and did not have or
couII have hal If, He could think more III
i've minutes than any member OF congress
could in ten years, how to reorSanIze the
army' The route one takes usually ca
picnc iuvades British territory frequently.
jas. fancy the United States army invading
her Naiesty's dumini0us and ret even
| PASS put in our pockets, only piece OF hard
tach. and We passed. Rock creek Is
Eritish possession, its inhabitants are three
white men s,aaw men, and several varl9ated
half breeds. o. what population. The
China. .siwash half-breed is 4 natural curiosi-
ty. and should 90 to swell Barnum's great
hippcdrome. This is all you see at Rock
cr.rk EXCEPT a big mountain 5000, or 10000
feet high slightly covered with snow ard
entirely bare OF vegetation, or timber OF
any kind, and the bright prospect OF nav
inS TO cross this foot hill if you want to see
the great lake, and the great ''Okanagan
Smith, being Only 30 miles across however,
YOU know it will not take more than tour or
i've davs to make it, and on you go, dead
beat, but cheerful, up, up, mp, like Joe
Hooker in the clouds, occasionally you may
| c,tcb = olimpse of mans hea.i or a saddle
| alone the surface OF the snow. Did you ever
see men walking in tall re grassi That's
net rcar SO hard as walking through tall
snow And the snow was indeed very tai,
looking back occasionally one could catch
2 glimpse of the ears of cur pack ANIMALS,
/ with pair of rubber boots tugging at some
Ting, and, | Ir;,rei q z..y, us!a@ very 0bJec-
tioaaLle language, | mean the bOotS, iiot the
ears. OF course all things must come to all
end, and your trip across the snow bank alsci
in undue time you reach Asooyoos lake
simply an enlargement Of the Okanagan
river. The country around brings you back
to your more cosenial home IN Nevada,
barren. descla.e, baSaltic rocks predon,lnate:
| sagebrush abounds, alkai everywhere, sand
/ hifis without number. Aspeaking trumpet
and an car trumpet most essential to MAKE
Yourself heard, or to hear ten steps OH, and
vet you are told, Oh I, it is only hight breeze
that's nothing, wait until tomorrow. 1t Is
a very productive country, for snakes and
horned toals. / believe one man d!d ralse
half Lushel of oats to the acre last year,
and that went mouldy. The Indians roam
unmolested over this great waste, they hunt
they fish, they horse race, they gamble, taey
XIII. they plunder, they steal, they he, Sna
DO all other things cogenial to their domestic
nat ure, bat we saw none, they anticipated
our visit and had business Of Importance
elsewhere. We left IN disgust: we wanted
to 90 home; We didn't picnic worth CENT
an,i ws vent home H. u. N. BUG.