On the way back toward the mouth of the inlet they paddled along close to the shore, in many places under the cliffs which overhung the water. Here it was possible to examine them closely and to study their details, and Jack was astonished to see how much vegetation they supported and how varied was the life that they exhibited. Everywhere near the water the granite was patched with lichens of different kinds and different colors, giving a brilliant effect to the rocks. Near the mouth of the inlet they landed on a low point of shore that ran out, and stood there for a little while, taking a farewell look at the narrow fiord. It was an impressive sight, and with full hearts the white men turned their backs on the wonders they had seen and took their way back out into the broad channel of Jervis Inlet.
[CHAPTER XVI]
A MOTHER'S COURAGE
As they turned north again and paddled on up the inlet the talk was naturally of the wonders that they had just left.
"Surely," said Jack, "this is the most wonderful place that I have ever seen."
"Yes, indeed," said Hugh, "it beats all the countries that my eyes have ever rested on, and I never expect to see anything so wonderful again."
"It was beautiful," said Fannin, "and how cold and gloomy it was one moment and how bright and beautiful the next."
"Yes," said Jack, "and yet when it was brightest and most beautiful it seemed cold all the time. It reminded me of what I've read about the Arctic regions. There was not a thing but snow and ice and just a few straggling stunted trees. I remember reading somewhere about a point down at the other end of South America where there is nothing to be seen but rocks and a little timber and snow and icebergs. That is the way Princess Louise seemed to me, but I do wish that we had had time to land and follow up that big river toward those heights."
"That would have been a nice trip," said Fannin; "but I guess it would have been an awful hard one. It looked to me as if those rocks were big and hard to climb among. We'd have had to carry our beds and our grub on our backs, and it might have taken us a long time to get up even to the foot of that big peak that stood up so high."