nd now became flecked with
bubbles and thin foam, so that we feared the freshet, which would
have been disastrous.

At mid-day we reached Shoal Island--Pakwao Ministic--and here the
poles were got out and the trackers took the middle of the river
for nearly a mile, until deep water was reached. Placer miners
had evidently been at work here, but with poor results, we
were told. Below Baptiste Creek, however, the yield had been
satisfactory, and several miners had made from $2.00 to $2.50 a
day over their living expenses. Above the Baptiste there was
nothing doing; indeed, we did not pass a single miner at work
on the whole route, and it was the best time for their work.
The gold is flocculent, its source as mysterious as that of the
Saskatchewan, if the theory that the latter was washed out of
the Selkirks before the upheaval of the Rockies is astray.

A fresh moose head, seen lying on the bank, indicated a hunting
party, but no human life was seen aside from our own people.
Indeed, the absence of life of any kind along the river, excepting
the song-birds, which were in some places numerous, was surprising.
No deer, no bears, not even a fox or a timber wolf made one's
fingers itch for the trigger. A few brent, which took wing afar
off, and a high-flying duck or two, were the sole wildings observed,
save a big humble-bee which droned around our boat for an instant,
then darted off again. Even fish seemed to be anything but plentiful.

That night's camp was hurriedly made in a hummocky fastness of
pine and birch, where we found few comfortable bedding-places.
In the morning we passed several ice-ledges along shore, the
survivals of the severe winter, and, presently, met a canoe
with two men from Peace River, crestfallen "Klondikers," who
had "struck it rich," they said, with a laugh, and who reported
good water. Next morning a very early start was made, and after
some long, strong pulls, and a vigorous spurt, the mouth of the
Lesser Slave River opened at last on our sight.

We had latterly passed along what appeared to be fertile soil,
a sandy clay country, which improved to the west and south-west
at every turn. It had an inviting look, and the "lie," as well,
of a region foreordained for settlement. It was irritating not
to be able to explore the inner land, but our urgency was too
great for that. From what we saw, however, it was easy to
predict that thither would flow, in time, the stream of pioneer
life and the