Kinahan Cornwallis, The New El Dorado; or, British Columbia

Chapter XVIII:
OUR ASCENT OF THE FRAZER.

Not finding the yield equal to expectation, and being myself equally, or even more, anxious than my partners in the canoe to press on higher up the river, we set out with a newly-engaged Indian, with the view of passing the upper falls, either by land portage or skilful steersmanship; the latter, however, we were warned against trusting to, as two miners and an Indian had been drowned in their attempt to pass through, their canoe being also smashed to pieces, five days previously.

While speaking of the calamities, I may as well mention that, on the 12th of may a miner from this place, who had followed his mate down river, under the impression that the latter meant to "absquatulate" on French leave with their joint earnings which he had in his possession, met him not far from the mouth of the river, and shot him dead. He was subsequently arrested, and imprisoned at Whatcom under government order.

In the vicinity of Fort Hope an American ill-treated an Indian chief, which resulted in an exchange of hostilities, the former drawing his revolver and shooting the chief through the left side, from the effects of which he died almost instantly. This aroused the wrath of the Indians standing near; one of whom being also armed, returned the fire, and shot a miner through the heart, from which he fell dead. The murderer of the chief then made his escape; and some days of commotion and anger elapsed before the Indians were pacified by the agent of the Hudson's Bay Company, who very laudably exerted himself in the re-establishment of peace, and the work of condolence, after so diabolical an injury received at the hands of a rude assassin.

On reaching the falls we disembarked, each man carrying his own "kit," and our Indian pilot the canoe. Had it not been for the unusually high state of the river at this particular time and season, we could have easily avoided making the portage, but as the river ran, it was the wisest thing we could do to abstain from trying it. Still the American character - and four out of the five were Americans - is more apt to study dispatch than safety; as for instance, a go-a-head Yankee would sooner travel by a train that was likely to take him to his destination an hour quicker than another one, although the chances were in favour of his having his neck broken on the journey. The American is eager, pushing, and impetuous; he is fond of risk, if there is the remotest chance of gaining anything by it; and in undertakings of a hazardous and uncertain nature he is without a rival in his achievements. He will "drive a trade," and explore, in the hope of gain, farther and quicker into the heart of a country, no matter what the hardships and obstacles to be contented against, than any other; not even his Anglo-Saxon cousins excepted.

Civilization follows more briskly in his wake than with any other nation; he has scarcely "set up" in the wilderness, before he finds materials for a newspaper arriving, and a "spick span" editor heralding the events of the hour, and that on a spot where the red man dances and the wild animals of the forest are still to be seen.

However, to our portage: after proceeding nearly a mile, the canoes were again laid on the water, and our oars plashed away with feathered spray towards--where we knew not, nearer the mountains. We seemed hemmed in by mountains, and we positively talked of nothing but the mountains and the probability of our making "big strikes," as we drew nearer them. At dusk, feeling hot and tired, we drew up in a small natural cove on the right bank of the river, partly overhung by a species of water-willow, which for beauty of position might have had the advantages and labour of art and cultivation devoted to its planting and bestowed upon its growth. We stepped ashore with the feelings of pioneers, and the reliant self-confidence which steals upon us when alone in the wilderness and far away from the haunts of civilization. We felt morally armed, and sledged against danger and foreign foes. We expected to meet with unaccustomed things, and hardships we had hitherto escaped; but fortitude gives strength, and we stood up each as a pillar to brave and to defy.

It is under such circumstances as these that men unite in one common and solid friendship, and are ever ready to join together in the cause of self-defense, and mutual protection, and well-being. All conventionalism is quickly banished or thrown aside, and generosity and the better feelings of the human heart preside and unite men in one honest brotherhood.

The singing of a bird, shrill, long, and musical, and the half-seething murmuring of the flowing waters of the river, alone disturbed the solitude of the seemingly primeval wilderness into which we had plunged, and which the rustling sound gently wafted from the giant forest, only tended to enhance and to render our loneliness the more impressive. But for us solemnity of scene had fewer charms than for those who, fresh from the lap of luxury, may contemplate Nature's beauties in idle peace, and smoke a nargileh beneath a fig-tree, or wander by the rivers of Damascus; for us there was the excitement of danger and uncertainty, the hope of gold and the risk of starvation. True all of these were powerful incentives to hard work and enterprise; but they, in their sharpening influence, tended to disturb that calm and happy contemplation of the beautiful which, under less adventurous circumstances, could not have failed to soothe and to inspire. We were eager, impatient, and restless; and, as a matter of necessity, our thoughts were more engrossed by the consideration of where our camping-ground should be, and where and when we might be able to renew our stock of provisions, than by the scenery which met our gaze, and which promised soon to be shrouded in the embrace of night, setting aside the anxiety of the miners as to the "yield" and "big strikes" which were to accrue to them in return for their enterprise and toil; however, I must say, in justice to my own good taste, that, in spite of hope and danger, I dwelt with something like rhapsody on the picturesque region of mountain and forest which delighted my admiring, not to say astonished, gaze. No doubt the brilliant and changing hues of the sky, which were reflected upon the landscape, and threw out the irregular outline and undulations of the mountains, contributed greatly to the fascination of the view; but still I became enamoured of it, and I thought it the loveliest clime it had ever been my changeful lot to wander in.

Not an Indian was to be seen, the woodland was deserted. We began, of course, with our usual avidity, to explore and prospect, from the instant of our mooring the canoe, while our native pilot collected faggots for a fire. I soon saw that the country was not so thickly wooded as at first sight I had been led to suppose; a belt of trees merely flanked to the water side, beyond which deeply-grassed rich prairie land stretched for several miles, bounded to the westward by lofty forest trees, and to the north by the overtowering mountains, but open to the south, and reaching further than the eye could carry. We returned to our camping-ground near the beach, and a few yards only from the canoe, before darkness set in, and very soon the crackling of the pile of leaves and branches which our Indian pilot had collected, was heard amid the lively flames of an al fresco fire. The weather was warm, so that we would have readily dispensed with such, had it not been for the sake of cooking some dried salmon, and making a decoction of tea--glorious beverage--it reminded me of Australia, where we cannot do without it. The "Bushman" has his tea three times a day; and although the Chinese only favour him with the big-leaved quality of the commodity, it makes, nevertheless, a pleasant, cheering beverage, and with a cake of damper, is highly comforting, both "now and hereafter," which is more than can be said of alcohol, or the more complex and sophisticated food and cookery of Paris and of New York; as for London, it need not be mentioned, the orthodox sole, and roast beef of the hotels, with variations of fresh mustard, and a steak for a year together, being too harmless for complaint.

The fire crackled as if rejoicing; merrily, laughingly curled the flames, and the pleasant smoke wriggling out of their embrace, sailed up peacefully over our heads and wasted itself away in the pure atmosphere of the forest. We sat ourselves down on the cool turf and partook of the repast prepared with all of the gusto of a healthy appetite and relish, and then sat round the cheering fire, which we plied with faggots from time to time, talking of our hopes and fears, but chiefly of the successes that awaited us,--for the miner is constitutionally sanguine,--and hard, indeed, must have been his luck when he is bowed down and despairing.

Each man had blankets with him, and for myself I had an opossum rug in addition, which I found highly serviceable; it was one that had served me during a "bush" excursion in Australia, and was now doubly prized by me on that account. I spread it at the base of a large tree not far from the fire, and there I prostrated myself, the of the party following my example, one by one, within a radius of twenty yards. As the night fell in, the stars shone out like jets of fire, and the moon again, with steady light, silvered the landscape: once through an opening in the forest above me I caught a glimpse of her radiant face, and felt glad in the contemplation of such heavenly beauty, which, although a common sight, was nevertheless to me, under the circumstances in which I then lay, peculiarly grateful and soothing; for I am an admirer of the great and beautiful, and a sunny clime to me is earthly paradise.

The howling of a wolf and the cries of other animals of the wilderness were heard from time to time coming faintly from the distance, but did not excite our fears; at any rate, our revolvers were ready, and our Indian pilot was as quick of hearing, whether asleep or awake, as Paddy might say, as he was sure and composed as to our safety and his own.

We were up and "hard at it" soon after daybreak on the following morning. We found gold everywhere; and my only surprise was, that a region so palpably auriferous should have remained so long unproclaimed and hidden from the gaze of civilization. I found a very choice quartz "specimen," six ounces in weight, half jutting out of the sand on the river's bank, which contained at least four ounces of the precious metal,--in fact, the larger half of the piece was solid gold, and could have been broken off from the quartz to which it was attached; this was a sure sign to us that large masses of gold must lie somewhere higher up the river than we had yet proceeded, most probably in the recesses, and at the foot of the mountains themselves, and that the gold found on the banks, and which is no doubt equally abundant in the bed of the river, was merely the off-scouring and broken fragments of the great gold region further inland. During this day's work seven "nuggets," varying from about half an ounce to five ounces in weight, were picked up, while the average yield of "dust" was no less than four ounces each man, equal to about sixty-four dollars (£12 16s.), besides the nuggets. This was glorious, but still the Yankees were anything but satisfied; it seemed as if the more they got the more they expected to get; and if they could only find out and reach this "source," of which we talked so much, they would have nothing to do but use their picks and shovels in gathering as much gold as they could get horses and canoes to carry. We appeared to be the first who had tried this "spot;" but it was known that another party of six had ascended the river higher than we were, but they were reported to have diverged into the interior, and found diggings at the foot of the Cascade Mountains, many miles in a southwesternly direction, and away from the river altogether. We therefore entertained strong hopes of being ourselves the sole discoverers of this prime mine of wealth, and leaving the rich diggings behind us, pushed on for richer diggings and "bigger strikes" still, on the very day following the yield last quoted, assured in our own minds, and moreover with experience in our favour, that we could not but be gainers by the movement, and perhaps--as, indeed, we sanguinely hoped, and I as reliantly as any of them--solve the grand problem as to where the gold came from. So with this hope impelling us, and this achievement strongly before us, we moved away from the newly-baptized Willow Bank, which, by-the-bye, had been and still promised, if we could do no better elsewhere, to be a very good bank for us; and while the word "Excelsior" rang out from the lips of one on board, rowed swiftly along a somewhat rapid and now shoaly river, the navigation of which was both intricate and dangerous, towards--the mountains now transformed into--visionary gold.