Page:Canadian Alpine Journal I, 1.djvu/43

28 As we advance, dense smoke surrounds us, for we are reaching a region where fires have been burning ahead. With difficulty we continue our advance, hour after hour, in the hope of finding a spot where the horses can pasture, but none is to be seen. There is no alternative but to camp in the midst of the burnt timber. Our poor horses could only nibble the leaves of the devil's club in the attempt to satisfy hunger.

In the morning we continue our journey, passing through a tall forest until we reach a rugged mountain defile leading up to the summit which we are to cross. The mountain peaks rise high above us. Five miles from our last night's camp we leave Bear creek, a branch of Beaver river, and follow a small stream to the south. Half a mile further brings us to the summit. We are now 4300 feet above the sea, surrounded by mountains of all forms, pyramidal, conical and serrated. They are marked in bold relief on the lofty sky line.

As we rest at the summit, Major Rogers describes to us the history of the discovery of the pass. Eighteen years before, Mr. Walter Moberly had ascended the Illecillewaet river on an exploration for the government of British Columbia. He was the first white man to traverse its banks. He ascended the Illecillewaet to the forks, and followed the more northerly branch some thirty miles farther, until it terminated in a cul-de-sac among snowy mountains. The other branch he was unable to follow, as the season was then advanced, and his Indian guide declined to accompany him. In his report he spoke hopefully of a route by that branch, and recommended that it should be examined before a road was finally determined on. It was upon this hint that Major Rogers acted. Three years back he traced the Illecillewaet to the forks, and then followed the eastern branch. This branch also proceeded from two streams, the most southerly of which