The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-03-08

around the Islands. coyes and havs. and
scenes Of witching beauty greet you On al
sides, rivAling al that was ever said or
sung Of famed Killarney or boosted Luz
cerue.
Our camping outfit on board, We paddle
sway to the west shore, where We end the
outlet through Crooked river and. happy
in the fact that We are going down stream,
We push gAily along, but suddenly We
md water getting scarce, and pres
entity We are aground. Well, no
help Tor II, =; We must drag the
the river into deep water beyond. This
We repeat several times during the day,
finding ourselves towards evening pad
ding across one of the chain of lakes as
charming . the first. A hard pull of some
nine miles and We are again in the narrow
reaches Of Crooked river, but it is not quite
90 bed - the fif1t, and we succeed in pull
eral weli-known points to win mess of
arctic trout from the lucent depths.
II ever disciple Of the gentle Ixak
reaches this point on his journey he will
b well repaid for all inconvenience. for
never were the JOINTS Of my Castleconnor
greenheart strained in |. given time by 50
many grandly gamey fish a. the arctic
trout found in great numbers in these wat
ers. It - peculiar looking trout, some
what resembling . white fish in form,
brown to black on the back, shading into
dirty white belly, with an enormous dor
sal I'm extending from the nape of the
neck to the tail and standing erect, in fact,
remlnding one very much OF short,
Our fishing ended, although there is
plenty ahead Of as, We have reached the
Red Rock lake, and we may az well take
turn here for deer or elk, as We want meat
and are sure 70 get supply here: While
out, We can climb to the summit of Red
Rock and get an extended view of the
to reach Peace river. Here at the summit
of Red Rock, away to the southwest you
can still trace the outline of the Fraser
river, where we left it at Discomb portage,
while to your right lies McLeod's lake, the
largest Of the Summit chain, and immedi-
ately to the north of that white mountain
Of quartz you will find the outlet into Nc
Leod river, which We SHAH follow to the
Parsnip ON the morrow. That vast extent
of level country holds away to Stewards
and Balen lakes. and that low range of
hills 10 the Ominica range, which the road
VIII have to pass through if it runs west Of
Stewards lake. But it is all good country,
comparatively open, as it is comparatively
level.
Making quick run through the mar
rows we suddenly shoot into McLeod's
lake, magnificent sheet of water some
eighteen miles in length by eight in width,
fairly alive with fish and fowl, surrounded
by splendid park-like country extending
for miles from the lake on either side.
Whether it is fit for farming is question
yet to be determined, but as usual we find
at the trading-post good garden with
lots Of vegetables. A run of eighteen or
twenty miles down the Mcleod river
brings US into the Parsnip, the great
mountain Of quartz at the head of the
Mcleod river, being noted IS We pass. As
l0des we have heard Of, but of what use are
rich veins here. They were known to be
here as far back Is IS.
The sight of the Parsnip, with its wide,
rich fats stretching for miles along its
banks, seems almost to show that we are
coming into an inhabited country again.
but we look in vain for any signs of man
here, unless it be the occasional traces of
an old Indian camp or . few old sluice-
boxes left by the miners years ago. Fifty
miles down stream we pass the Lost
Nation, and it was Just by that great
boulder to the left that Pat Mel Leaf washed
out $500 in an afternoon and had for sew
eral years = rich wash on that bar just
above. Here, just around the bend, Dan
McCulloch made his stake in '72. But
here we are passing the Ominica; q nasty
little river it looks, but many dollar has
past the Ominica some thirty miles, every
mile brings us nearer that high peak to
the right, the Goathead, the base of which
is washed By the waters of the Peace river,
which we are fast approaching. See there,
right ahead of us. that great lake-like
stream; that is the Finlay. Away MP that
river we planted" Dan Williams. in the