e topmost edge the
pure white of the jagged crest-line glowed for an instant in
many-coloured silver, and then the lonely peaks grew dark and dim.

As thus I watched from the silent hill-top this great mountain-chain,
whose summits slept in the glory of the sunset, it seemed no stretch of
fancy which made the red man place his paradise beyond their golden
peaks. The "Mountains of the Setting Sun," the "Bridge of the World,"
Thus he has named them, and beyond them the soul first catches a glimpse
of that mystical land where the tents are pitched midst everlasting
verdure and countless herds and the music of ceaseless streams.

That night there came a frost, the first of real severity that had fallen
upon us. At daybreak next morning, the 5th December, my thermometer
showed 22 degrees below zero, and, in spite of buffalo boots and moose
"mittaines," the saddle proved a freezing affair; many a time I got down
and trotted on in front of my horse until feet and hands, cased as they
were, began to be felt again. But the morning, though piercingly cold,
was bright with sunshine, and the snowy range was lighted up in many a
fair hue, and the contrasts of pine wood and snow and towering wind-swept
cliff showed in rich beauty. As the day wore on we entered the pine
forest which stretches to the base of the mountains, and emerged suddenly
upon the high banks of the Saskatchewan. The river here ran in a deep,
wooded valley, over the western extremity of which rose the Rocky
Mountains; the windings of the river showed distinctly from the height on
which we stood; and in mid-distance the light blue smoke of the Mountain
House curled in fair contrast from amidst a mass of dark green pines.

Leaving my little party to get my baggage across the Clear Water River, I
rode on ahead to the fort. While yet a long way off we had been descried
by the watchful eyes of some Rocky Mountain Assineboines, and our arrival
had been duly telegraphed to the officer in charge. As usual, the
excitement was intense to know what the strange party could mean. The
denizens of the place looked upon themselves as closed up for the
winter, and the arrival of a party with a baggage-cart at such a time
betokened something unusual. Nor was this excitement at all lessened when
in answer to a summons from the opposite bank of the Saskatchewan I
announced my name and place of departure. The river was still open, its
rushing waters had resisted so far the efforts of