We had some difficulty in procuring what we required for the journey, having but little money left, but by judicious barter we at length overcame the difficulty, although, when we came to pay our bill at the Fort, we were compelled to beg off 3s. 4d., by which it exceeded the contents of our purse! By the kindness of the residents of the Fort, Mr. O’B. was fitted out for the journey with horse and saddle, forty pounds of pemmican, and some tea and tobacco.
The horses were by this time in fine condition, and we resolved to set out at once, in order that we might have plenty of time before us in case of unforeseen delays, although we should thus encounter the rivers at their highest flood, and the morasses in their spongiest condition.
CHAPTER XII.
Set out from Edmonton—Prophecies of Evil—Mr. O’B.’s Forebodings—Lake St. Ann’s—We enter the Forest—A Rough Trail—Mr. O’B., impressed with the Difficulties which beset him, commences the study of Paley—Pembina River—The Coal-bed—Game—Curious Habit of the Willow Grouse—Mr. O’B. en route—Changes wrought by Beaver—The Assiniboine’s Adventure with the Grisly Bears—Mr. O’B. prepares to sell his Life dearly—Hunt for the Bears—Mr. O’B. Protects the Camp—The Bull-dogs—The Path through the Pine Forest—The Elbow of the McLeod—Baptiste becomes Discontented—Trout Fishing—Moose Hunting—Baptiste Deserts—Council—Resolve to Proceed—We lose the Trail—The Forest on Fire—Hot Quarters—Working for Life—Escape—Strike the Athabasca River—First View of the Rocky Mountains—Mr. O’B. spends a Restless Night—Over the Mountain—Magnificent Scenery—Jasper House—Wild Flowers—Hunting the “Mouton Gris” and the “Mouton Blanc.”
On the 3rd of June, 1863, we left Edmonton, amid the good wishes of the kind friends we had made there. But although they cheerfully wished us God speed, we found from the men that public opinion at the Fort had decided that our expedition would certainly end most disastrously,[7] for they considered that the party was too small, and comprised too many ineffectives, to succeed in overcoming the difficulties we must necessarily encounter. We were not much disheartened by these croakings, however, and started for St. Alban’s in the afternoon. Here we were joined by our friend Mr. O’B., who had walked on the night before to see the priest, and suffered dreadful anxiety at our non-appearance until dusk. The next day we stayed at St. Alban’s, exchanging some lean horses for fatter ones. Just before dark Mr. O’B. came to us, and begged us to move on that evening, as the next day would be the 5th of June, the anniversary of his departure from Red River, in the first portion of his journey to British Columbia, which had proved so unfortunate, and he felt a superstitious dread of the coincidence. However, it was already too late, and Mr. O’B. had the opportunity of verifying the truth of his presentiments.
The road to Lake St. Ann’s passed through a fertile and park-like country for about fifty miles, but at St. Ann’s the thick forest commences, which extends far to the north, and westward to the mountains. St. Ann’s was, doubtless, chosen as the site for a settlement on account of the immense number of the core-gonus, or white-fish, furnished by the lake, forming the staple food of the inhabitants; but it is ill adapted for farming, on account of the timber, which has been very partially cleared away for little fields of potatoes and grain. This disadvantage has already been felt by the settlers, many of whom have migrated to the more promising site of St. Alban’s. The lake is a pretty sheet of water, several miles in length, its shores dotted on the western side by forty or fifty houses, and a church. Mr. Colin Fraser, the Company’s officer, treated us very kindly, gave us milk, potatoes, and delicious fresh white-fish, and amused us over our evening pipes by stories of the good old times, when the wood buffalo were found in plenty as far as Peace River, and game so abundant that starvation was unknown. He had been thirty-eight years in the country, seventeen of which he had spent as the solitary host of Jasper House, and told us that Cariboo deer and bighorns were so numerous when he first went there, that a “green hand” and a boy supplied the establishment with ample provision during one winter, when the regular hunter had died. Mr. Fraser had not seen Fort Garry for thirty years, and for fifteen had not been further than Edmonton, yet he was happy and contented as possible.
When we left Lake St. Ann’s the track led us immediately into the densest forest, where the ground was boggy and rotten, thickly covered with fallen timber. The horses sank in up to their girths, and every few yards were obliged to jump over the obstruction in the path. Mr. O’B. was now deeply impressed with the difficulties he encountered, and declared that, although he had visited many countries, he had never known what travelling meant before. His assistance was limited to good advice, for he was afraid to approach a horse, and when his help was required to load the animals, he was invariably missing. We generally ferreted him out, and found him, hidden in the bushes, quietly smoking his pipe, and diligently studying the last remnant of his library, the only book he took with him—Paley’s “Evidences of Christianity.”
On the second day after we left Lake St. Ann’s, the road became rather better, there being a few patches of open country, and the timber smaller, clustering in the swells of the low undulations. At noon we reached a large lake, and travelled along its banks for the remainder of that day. It appeared to be well stocked with wild fowl and fish, the latter lying basking in the shallows, hardly moving away as our horses approached along the shore. The mosquitoes were exceedingly troublesome, obliging us to put up the Indian lodge we carried with us, and we were frequently compelled to get up in the night to light a fire, in order to smoke them out before we were able to sleep.
On the 11th of June we struck the Pembina River, a clear, shallow stream flowing to the N.E., over a pebbly bed, between perpendicular banks of some eighty feet high. These showed the section of a magnificent coal-bed, from fifteen to twenty feet in thickness. We easily crossed the river by fording, and on the further bank met a couple of half-breeds, who were returning to St. Ann’s from trapping beaver. We stayed an hour or two examining the coal, and prospecting the sand of the river for gold.
The coal was not of first-rate quality, having an earthy fracture, and burning with dull flame and much smoke, yielding a quantity of yellowish-grey ash. The piece we examined was not, however, a fair specimen, being one we picked up from the bed of the river, which was strewn with blocks and fragments. Coal has also been discovered on the McLeod, Athabasca, Smoky, Peace, and Mackenzie Rivers to the north; and on the Saskatchewan, Battle, and Red Deer Rivers to the south. A section of it appears in the cliff of the river-bank at Edmonton, where it is used for the forge. The lignite strata have been thus observed at numerous points, scattered over more than ten degrees of latitude, but invariably in nearly the same longitude.