"db00f89d-9593-4803-8763-fe64a444585d"@en . "CONTENTdm"@en . "http://resolve.library.ubc.ca/cgi-bin/catsearch?bid=1587137"@en . "British Columbia Historical Books Collection"@en . "Walkem, W. Wymond"@en . "2017-04-13"@en . "1914"@en . "\"Reminiscences of early pioneers.\" -- Lowther, B. J., & Laing, M. (1968). A bibliography of British Columbia: Laying the foundations, 1849-1899. Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, p. 177."@en . ""@en . "https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcbooks/items/1.0347209/source.json"@en . "287 pages : photographs, illustrations ; 24 cm"@en . "application/pdf"@en . " FOREWORD\nWHEN I arrived in British Columbia, some forty years ago, I\nwas fortunate in meeting many of those brave spirits, servants of the Great Fur Company, who had come to New\nCaledonia, Oregon, and the Pacific coast to fill positions of trust, in\nthe various posts, which the Hudson's Bay Company erected from\ntime to time, to meet the requirements of their fur trade. These\npioneers of the \"Far West\" were men of exceptional bravery and intelligence, and were fortunately at the time of my arrival still vigorous\nin mind as well as in body.\nAs a boy I had read many of the stories of Ballantyne, and Capt.\nMayne Reid, with a throbbing heart, and those silent, moccasined,\nand brave heroes depicted by the facile pen of Fenimore Cooper, I had\nadmired and loved. Thinking to obtain from the old servants of the\nHudson's Bay Company, stories of a similar kind, I took every opportunity of questioning them on their life history. I was sorely disappointed, for the heroic age of the Indian, must have passed away.\nI was, however, successful in gleaning some stories of their early\nexperiences in this province which I hope may prove interesting.\nThe reminiscences of Messrs. Stout, Stevenson, and J. C. Bryant\nwill give the present generation some idea of the trials and vicissitudes\nwhich the early gold seekers encountered in their search after the\nprecious metal. Mr. Bryant, who is still alive, was one of the most\nearnest and valuable of the Cariboo miners, as he was besides being\na prospector,\u00E2\u0080\u0094an explorer who made good use of his eyes.\nI have to thank Mr. S. P. Judge for the illustrations, as well as;\nMr. Geo. T. Wadds, photographer, of Vancouver, and Mrs. Maynard,\nVictoria, and last but not least, The Hon. Sir Richard McBride, Minister of Mines, for the loan of many valuable plates, the property of the\nBureau of Mines.\nW. WYMOND WALKEM.\nVancouver, B.C., 16th July, 1914. SM\nINDEX\nPage\nIndian Troubles ~ 9\nSir Matthew Baillie Begbie... 23\nAdam Home's Trip Across Vancouver Island - ~ 37\nA Pioneer of '58 51\nAn Early Trouble at Fort Camosun | ~ - 63\nLife at Fort Simpson in the Forties .. 75\nChristmas Thirty-eight Years Ago _ _ 87\nThe Ordination of a Medicine Man _ 95\nMy First Visit to an Indian Potlatch ; 105\nA Sturdy Prospector ;. 121\nA Pioneer of '59: . 243 H. M. S. PLUMPER AND BELLA BELLA INDIANS.\nINDIAN TROUBLES\nCOMPARED with Eastern Canada, or with the United States,\nBritish Columbia has been particularly free from Indian forays\nand lawlessness. Our Colonial and Provincial history contains\nno accounts of such terrible and bloody raids as were so common on\nthe Canadian and New England frontiers during the Anglo-French\nwars, which terminated in the capture of Quebec by the gallant Wolfe.\nOur early settlers had no experience of midnight attacks, accompanied\nby the terrible war whoopt which often startled our eastern brothers\nfrom their tranquil slumbers, to meet the tomahawk and cruel scalping knife.\nFor the quiet and tranquil conditions which existed in this Province we were indebted to the great influence of the Hudson's Bay Co.,\nand to the obedience and respect which they exacted from all those\nIndians with whom the company had dealings. To the Oblate\nFathers, and other Roman Catholic missionaries, who took their lives\nin their hands in carrying to the Indian tribes of British Columbia the\nglorious truths of Christianity, we were also deeply indebted in this\nrespect.\nIt was not until the wild rush for gold took place in 1858 that\nfriction with the aborigines began to show itself. Disputes first arose\nover the price charged by Indians for transportation in their canoes,\nand over mining ground. The Indians demanded pay for the gold\ntaken out, and also for the ground used by the miner in working his\nclaim. Then came the attempt of the savages to arrest the influx of\nminers by the Okanagan by refusing to allow them to pass from above\nthe canyon of the Fraser River. The Californians were often guilty\nof cruelty to, and unjust treatment of the aborigines.\n9 They were, no doubt, incited to take this step on the advice of the\nShushwaps, and the American Indians living just beyond the boundary\nline of Oregon. No authenticated case of scalping by the Indians\noccurred. This strife led to the killing of two Frenchmen on the 7th\nAugust, 1858. I will not go into the details of the Fraser war; sufficient to say that after thirteen Indians had been killed, and many\nothers wounded, an agreement was arrived at by which the miner\nwas allowed to work in peace. Many white men who had fitted out\nin Victoria and started for the Fraser river gold fields in boats, either\npurchased locally or built by their own hands, were never seen again.\nI have been told by a Squamish Indian, who in 1858, lived with\nhis father and mother at Capilano Creek, that many whites were killed\nby the Squamish Indians at the entrance of the First Narrows. On\none occasion he saw some Indians attack a sloop containing twelve\nmen. These men were all killed, the sloop plundered and then set\non fire, and burned. These white men and many others mistook the\nentrance of Burrard Inlet for the Fraser River, especially if the\ntide was running out. But the first old-fashioned massacre of Indians\nby white men took place in the interior of British Columbia, by the\nthe banks of the Fraser, in July, 1858, when a party of California\nminers surprised and massacred thirty-three innocent members of a\nfriendly tribe.\nTo give the reader some idea of the number of Indians living in\nBritish Columbia in the 50's, in 1854 Haidahs to the number of 1500\nvisited Victoria in one body to see what the white man was doing.\nThis tribe had a very bad reputation for ferocity, and had been guilty\nof many massacres of neighboring tribes. In 1853 they had captured\nLaing, the shipbuilder, the founder of Laing's shipyard, Victoria, and\nBen Gibbs, and others from the United States. They kept them\nprisoners until they were finally ransomed. The influx of Haidahs\nto Victoria caused the good people of that city great uneasiness, but\nthey were finally induced to leave by Governor James Douglas, whose\nevery word was law with them.\nIn 1859 a convention of northern Indians was held in Victoria,\nat which 3,000 Indians were present. Two thousand of these were\nHaidahs, and the balance was made up of Bella Bellas, Stikines and\nTsimpseans. What the convention was about nobody seemed to\nknow. They were all camped on Finlayson's farm.\nTheir presence in such numbers, more especially when they\nwould give no reasons for their meeting, so far away from their own\nrancheries, gave rise to much speculation as to their intentions, and\nthe concensus of Victoria opinion was, that \"they were up to no\n10 good.\" As on the former occasion when the Haidahs had paid the\ncity a visit, in force, they were requested to \"klatawa kopa mika illehe,\"\nor in plain English to go home, by the head of the Hudson's Bay Co.,\nGovernor James Douglas.\nA serious massacre of whites by Indians occurred in the month\nof May, 1864. This was known as the Chilcotin or Waddington\nmassacre, and gave rise to great excitement throughout British Columbia and Vancouver Island. Mr. Alfred Waddington had contracted\nto build a trail for the Government from the head of Bute Inlet to\nFort Alexandria. He had seventeen men in his party, one of whom,\nnamed Jem Smith, was in charge of a ferry and supplies at a crossing\nof the Homal-ko River.\nWhile the main party was at work some distance off, upon the\nproposed trail, two fatigued and hungry Chilcotin Indians called on\nJem Smith and asked him for food. These Indians were of a wild\nand uncivilized nature. They wore rings in their noses, a breech\nclout, and covered themselves with a blanket. They had very little\nintercourse with the whites, and were unvisited by the missionaries.\nTheir request for food was met with a snappy refusal, and they were\ntreated to rather rough and uncomplimentary language. The refusal\nand insulting language enraged the younger Indian of the two, and\nhe raised his gun and quickly shot Smith dead. After taking what\nthey wanted the two set out for a camp of their tribesmen who were\nacting as packers to the road party. To them they related the story\nof the refusal of food, the rough insults of the unfortunate Smith, and\nof having shot him.\nOn hearing the story the Indian packers put on war paint, danced\na war dance during the night, and early in the morning set out for\nthe working party's camp, a few hundred yards distant, and arrived\nthere before any of the men were up. Surrounding the camp, they\ncut the pole and tent ropes, thus allowing the tents to fall upon the\nsleeping and tired road-men. Then they shot, stabbed and cut with\naxes all those who were within. Out of the sixteen men in the tents\nthirteen were killed outright. Four miles further the road boss,\nBrewster, was engaged with four men blazing the route of the proposed trail. This party was also attacked, and three of them, including\nBrewster, were killed.\nOne of the tent party who escaped was a Dane, named Petersen.\nHearing the shots, he jumped up, and was at once attacked by an Indian armed with an axe. As the savage struck at him he nimbly jumped\naside, but another Indian shot him in the arm. Bleeding copiously\nand very faint, he managed to reach the river, into which he plunged.\n11 The river was running very swiftly, and in a short space of time\nhe was carried down quite a distance, over rapids, in which were snags\nand rough stones, which bruised him greatly. He made the bank,\nand shortly after landing was joined by a man named Mosley, one of\nthe party, who had escaped almost unhurt. An Irishman named\nBuckley had been stabbed several times by the Indians, and had fallen\nunconscious on the ground. Supposing that he was dead, the Indians\nleft him lying where he fell. He subsequently joined the other two,\nand the three eventually reached the coast, where they told the story\nof the massacre of their fellows.\nOnce their appetite for blood was stimulated the Chilcotins looked\nfor more. The opportunity came. Three weeks later a man named\nMcDonald, in charge of a pack train of forty-two animals, was on his\nway from the head of Bentinck Arm to Fort Alexandria, when he was\nattacked by these same Indians at Nancootioon Lake. Three of the\nparty were killed, and one escaped. McDonald, whose horse was shot\nunder him, immediately mounted another, which was likewise shot.\nHe then made for the bush, but was killed there.\nA Chilcotin Indian whom my son, Vyvyan met, when with H. P.\nBell's survey party, in connection with the British Pacific Railway\nscheme, paid a high compliment to McDonald for his bravery. He\nsaid that he saw the whole affray, and that when McDonald entered\nthe bush he laid down behind a log and shot several of the Indians\nwith his revolver, and that finally one Indian crawled up behind him\nand killed him with the blow of an axe. This Indian's account of this\ntragedy I will publish at some future time, as I have the notes my son\nmade immediately after hearing the story from the Chilcotin outlaw,\nfor such he was.\nTo avenge these murders, volunteers from Victoria and New\nWestminster set out on June 15, in H. M. S. Sutlej, for Bentinck Arm.\nThe expedition was under the command of Governor Seymour, who\nhad succeeded Sir James Douglas. A number of Bella Bellas were\nengaged to accompany the expedition. In the Chilcotin country they\nfell in with another band of volunteers composed of Cariboo miners\nunder Judge Cox, and another party headed by D. McLean, a former\nHudson's Bay Company's employee, who had left his ranch on the\nBonaparte to gratify his love for pursuing Indians. This McLean was\nthe father of the three men who were executed, with their cousin Hare.\nin New Westminster, on January 16, 1881, for the murder of Constable\nUssher, in 1880. The result of the expedition was the arrest and conviction of some of the murderers. McLean was the only one killed\namong those who formed the expeditionary force. Those convicted were hanged in view of an immense concourse\nof Indians, whose attendance the Governor arranged for, in order that\nthey might see what punishment murders entailed on the guilty\npersons.\nI will mention a few other instances where the natives robbed or\nmurdered white people, and what steps were taken to punish them,\nbefore proceeding with the massacre of the Penellahuts, a narrative\nwhich I obtained partly from a former slave with the Bella Bellas, and\npartly from Mr. A. G. Home, who was present on H. M. S. Plumper, as\na representative of \u00C2\u00A3he Hudson's Bay Company, and because he was\nwell known to the Indians, and was supposed to have some influence\nwith them.\nI have already mentioned that the Haidahs in 1854 captured\nLaing, the shipbuilder, Ben Gibbs, and a number of men from United\nStates vessels and that these prisoners were set free on the payment\nof a ransom.\nOn January 31, 1859, the brig \"Swiss Boy\" of San Francisco, Captain Welden, laden with a cargo of lumber for Victoria from Puget\nSound, put into Nitinat Sound on account of a gale in the Pacific, and\nto await fair weather. His vessel was visited by some of the Nitinat\nIndians on the day of his arrival. Early next morning the man doing\nthe anchor watch being fast asleep, the brig was boarded by several\nhundred savages, who made prisoners of the captain and the crew.\nThe Indians then stripped the brig of everything that was portable,\nincluding the sails and the furniture of the vessel. They held the\ncaptain and crew prisoners for two days, when they managed to make\ntheir escape. Making his way to Victoria the captain laid a complaint\nto the Governor. H. M. S. Satellite was sent down to Nitinat, and the\nbrig, with its cargo of lumber intact, was recovered, but everything\nthat was portable had been carried off by the savages. The crew of\nthe war vessel saw no Indians, who were probably in hiding, and it\nwas not considered advisable to follow them up.\nIn the autumn of 1864, Capcha, the chief of the Ahouset Indians,\ndecoyed the trading schooner \"Kingfisher\" to the shore near Clayo-\nquot, when he and his Indians killed the captain and crew and then\nplundered the vessel. An Ahouset Indian told me in 1885, when ! was\non a professional visit to Alberni, to see this man, who met me at the\nIndian agent's house, that he could not understand how the captain\nwas induced to come in shore, as Capcha was noted all over the west\ncoast as a \"mesatche man\" (bad man), and that he remembered the\noccasion well, though he was a little boy.\n13 Admiral Duncan arrived in Esquimalt on H. M. S. Devastation\non the same day on which word was brought down about the dreadful\ntragedy. Boarding H. M. S. Sutlej, the admiral hastened to the scene\nof the murders. On arriving there he at once demanded the surrender\nof the murderers, which was refused. The guns of the war vessel were\nthen turned loose, and in a few minutes three villages where the guilty\nsavages lived, were destroyed. This bombardment may or may not\nhave had a good effect, but Capcha subsequently boasted, in the most\nimpudent manner, that his own operations were a great success.\nIn 1865 H. M. S. Clio was compelled to throw a shell or two into\na village near Fort Rupert, before the Indians would deliver up a\nmurderer.\nThe Bella Bellas who were guilty of the shocking murder of the\nPenellahuts, were, in 1860, a large, powerful and warlike tribe. In that\nyear they numbered close on 2,000 men, with a large number of\nwomen. In company with about 2,000 Haidahs, nearly 500 of this\nBella Bella tribe had paid a visit to Victoria the previous year and\nhad caused such a feeling: of insecurity in that city that Governor\nDouglas made special reference to this large assemblage of Indians\nin an address to the Colonial Legislature.\nIn addition to the Haidahs and Bella Bellas were the Tsimpseans\nand Stikines, all northern Indians, who pretended to have met to\ndiscuss weighty matters with the other two tribes. There is little\ndoubt, however, but that they had more sinister motives for this pretended convention, but that they found the whites too numerous to\nattack, with several ships of war lying in the adjacent harbor of Esquimalt.\nThose of the Bella Bellas who made this visit to Victoria returned\nto their rancheries and told wonderful tales of what the white man\npossessed, and of the plunder that could be obtained from the isolated\nsettlements along the coast. There was a general cry from those of\nthe tribe who had not been on the expedition of the previous year,\nthat it should be repeated and an opportunity given them to visit the\ngreat city of the white men, and perhaps obtain some plunder from\nthe settlers or other tribes along the coast.\nIt was customary for the northern Indian tribes before starting\non any expedition of this nature, to consult the Shamans, who acteu\nas the oracles of the tribe, and the Bella Bellas were no exception t&\nthis custom. The proposed expedition was submitted to them fcA\ntheir advice. A grand council was then held, at wh,ich the younger\nmen of the tribe were very fully represented. After spending several\ndays in the forest, consulting their \"temenwas,\" or guiding spirits, the Shamans returned and attended the grand council. There, after much\nbeating of drums and shaking of rattles, they announced that the\nspirits were quarrelling among themselves, and that they saw much\nbloodshed, but by whom, or on whom they could not tell. To give\nadditional support to the replies of the Shamans, the sun which had\nbeen pouring down its hot rays from a clear sky during the day, was\nblood-red when it set. The moon also was of a reddish tinge. Taking: the statements of the Shamans as an indication of war, with some\ntribe, the Bella Bellas held a grand war dance.\nThis dance was participated in by the whole fighting strength of\nthe tribe, who were now fairly roused in anticipation of some success-\nfull raid upon some other tribe. As the rancheria was too small for\nthe large fighting force to carry out their dance, it was held in the\nopen air. The first part of the dance consisted of circling round a\nlarge fire (built in a roomy space), to give light to the dancers. This\ndance was confined to the men only. They walked round the fire in\nabsolute silence, until they reached the spot from whence they had\nstarted. Then they swung swiftly round and faced the women, who,\nin the form of an outer ring, were ten feet from them, and gave a great\nshout, or yell. Then forming into two lines opposite one another,\nthey passed back and forth through the opposite files. The dance\nended in a chant, in which the women joined.\nChief Tsallum then came forward and told the tribe that the morrow must be spent in preparing the large war canoes for the coming\ntrip to the city \"Victola,\" where they would see many rancherias and\nmany white men\u00E2\u0080\u0094that they should go in their best war canoes, and\nthat the old women and those who had children must stay behind, and\nwith the old men, and a number of young men, take care of the settlement. Only those who had arms would be allowed to gro.\nNext morning the whole tribe was astir before dawn, and the day\nwas spent in overhauling the canoes and making them water-tight.\nThey smeared them also with some preparation to make them slip\nmore easily and swiftly through the water.\nThe following day the camp was again astir before daybreak, and\nin a short time they packed their canoes with necessaries for the trip,\nstepped aboard and amidst much shouting paddled out into the tide.\nIt is only on special occasions that Indians travel during the night,\nso they arranged their camping places that they should pass Cape\nMudge at night, where lived the ferocious and blood-thirsty Eucla-\ntaws, of whom they were much afraid. As they sailed swiftly to the\nsouth they were all happy in anticipation of the pleasant and exciting\ntime they would pass in Vic-to-la, the white man's home, where fire\n15 water was easily obtained, as well as plenty. There were nineteen\ncanoes in all, containing about 300 men and a few young women,\nwives of the chiefs.\nApproaching Nanaimo, they passed down outside of the islands\nwhich cover its front. Between the Nanaimos and Bella Bellas an\nold blood feud existed. The last time they had met in battle the\nNanaimos were badly worsted, losing many of their tribe, and some of\ntheir principal chiefs. But since their last meeting the Hudson's Bay\nCompany had built a bastion and established a post, so that the Bella\nBellas gave that place a wide berth, passing down outside of Protection and Gabriola Islands.\nThe Bella Bellas encamped on Thetis Island for the night, and\nstarting bright and early next morning they passed Kuper Island on\nthe inside passage a little after daybreak. The chief of the Bella\nBellas noticed that the members of the Penellahut tribe, whose ranch-\neries were in the small bay of Kuper Island were yet asleep. Landing\ntwo miles below Kuper Island, the chief Tsallum of the Bella Bellas\ndirected two of his tribe to return and examine all the approaches\nand surroundings of the Penellahut rancheria, but not on any account\nto let the Penellahuts see them.\nThe scouts on their return reported that the tribe was still asleep\nand that they were possessed of animals the scouts had never seen\nbefore and which dug up clams from the beach with their noses. They\nsaid the rancheria was surrounded with thick brush, in which an\nenemy could hide until the time arrived to make an attack.\nSatisfied with this report the canoes passed on down to Victoria,\nwhere they all arrived after a passage of eight days from their northern homes.\nThe arrival of so many Indians in one body gave rise to a good\ndeal of speculation as to their motives and Governor Douglas sent\nMr. Finlayson down to make enquiries and to advise them to return\nto their homes without molesting any whites or other Indians, as\nthey would be held accountable for all their actions.\nIn the meantime the Bella Bellas had drawn up their canoes in\npreparation for making a lengthy stay. With members of other\ntribes, Cowichans and Songhees, and some Penellahuts, they engaged\nin gambling. At last they became such a nuisance that Governor\nDouglas ordered them to return to their homes in the north. As\nthey sullenly pushed their canoes into the water Douglas expressed\nhis fears to Mr. W. A. G. Young that these Bella Coolas would cause\nsome trouble to the settlers or other tribes along the coast that were\nweaker than they were.\n16 After leaving Victoria harbor and turning north the flotilla\nskirted along the coast and robbed the cabins of white men, carrying\naway what was portable and destroying what could not be carried in\ntheir canoes. Isolated camps of other Indians were visited and where\nthe owner was at home he was ruthlessly murdered.\nAt last they arrived within five miles of Kuper Island. The\nchief had so timed his arrival at this point that it was almost dark\nwhen they hauled their canoes up on the Vancouver Island shore.\nThe night was spent in daubing their faces with black paint, greasing\ntheir bodies and making themselves look as horrible as possible, for\nthe chief had determined on wiping out the peaceable Penellahuts.\nNext morning the Bella Bellas were moving quietly through the\nwater towards their intended victims. It was still dark. Before\nlanding the canoes had separated so as to land small parties at short\ndistances from one another, and to provide against any of the Penellahuts escaping. The Penellahut tribe at that period mustered about\nfive hundred souls, men, women and children.\nAbout the time that the Bella Bellas landed the previous night on\nthe shore of Vancouver Island, Winni-win-Chin, the war chief of the\nNanaimo tribe, entered the Penellahut rancheria to consult with the\ntribe as to what they should do in case the Bella Bellas returned on\nmischief bent. As nothing could be done that night, it was arranged\nto hold a grand council next day. The Nanaimo chief was longheaded and crafty. He did not anticipate the Bella Bellas returning\nso soon from Victoria, but he did believe that when they returned\nmischief and murders would mark their track. He had noticed their\ncanoes passing outside Protection Island on their way south and their\nnumbers made him uneasy.\nAs day began to break the Nanaimo chief, who had been sleeping\nuneasily all night, thought he could hear a sound like paddles striking\nthe water and canoes grating on the shingle. There were many\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nyes, he was sure. Springing out of his blankets he made his way to\nthe door. One glance, and turning round he rushed for his axe, knife\nand rifle, at the same time giving the war cry of his tribe. The Penellahuts had hardly got on their feet when the Bella Bellas burst in upon\nthem. It was now one wild \"sauve qui peut,\" as the savage northern\nIndians shot, stabbed and struck down with stone clubs and axes the\nunfortunate Penellahuts.\nWinni-win-chin in the meantime was not idle. He was a powerful man and knew not what fear meant. With his rifle in one hand\nand his short axe in the other, he hewed his way through his enemies\n17 and gained the door. A Bella Bella warrior was standing there to see\nthat none of those within should escape.\nAs W'inni-win-chin drew close to him, the Bella Bella swung his\nwar club and dealt a fearful blow at the chief's head. Dodging the\nblow, WTinni-win-chin killed him on the spot and then gained the outside and made for his light canoe, which was concealed a short distance away in the bushes that lined the shore. As he did so he was\nsurprised to be addresesd by a young woman in his own tongue. She\nexplained as they ran side by side that she had been captured by the\nBella Bellas four years previously and had been a slave in the chief's\nfamily ever since. Telling the young woman to hurry, he promised to\ntake her back to her tribe. He knew her as the daughter of a lesser\nchief who had since died.\nGaining his canoe, into which they both leaped, he paddled furiously for the Vancouver Island shore, which he finally gained, and\nhauling up his canoe hid in the bushes and awaited a favorable time\nto return to the Hudson's Bay Company's post and tell of the massacre of the Penellahuts.\nThe exit from the rancheria being deprived of its guardian, was\nfree to those Penellahuts who could gain its portal. But there were\nfew who escaped. Some of the Penellahuts made a brave resistance,\nand many Bella Bellas fell before them, but in the end the former were\nbeaten down and killed. Out of the four hundred Indians who were\nsleeping in the building one hundred and seventy-five escaped and\nhid in the bush.\nThe Bella Bellas camped there that day and the following night,\nand after setting fire to the building left for their northern homes.\nIn the meantime Winni-win-chin had made all haste, under the\ncover of the night, and reached Nanaimo a little after daybreak. On\nlanding he had at once gone to Mr. A. G. Home, at that time in charge\nof the Hudson's Bay post, and reported what had occurred. The\nnews quickly spread and aroused a great feeling of uneasiness among\nthe servants of the company. A little after noon the Bella Bellas-\nwere seen passing north, outside of Protection Island, and as they\npassed they shouted and yelled to express their delight, as well as\ndefiance of the Nanaimos and those in the settlement.\nAs matters appeared very serious a canoe was manned by eight\nstalwart white men and sent to Victoria to report to Governor Douglas what had occurred. Their orders were to travel swiftly and keep\nthe canoe going day and night.\nGovernor Douglas saw the canoe containing the white men enter\nthe harbor of Victoria, and turning round to Mr. W. A. G. Young he\n18 said: \"That canoe is carrying bad news\u00E2\u0080\u0094those Bella Bellas have\nbeen up to some devilment.\" In a short time a man entered the fort\nand presented a letter from Mr. Horne. \"Just as I told you, Mr.\nYoung, I have been expecting some news like this ever since the Bella\nBellas left this harbor.\"\nSending a courier to Esquimalt, with a request for Captain Richards of H. M. S. Plumper to come to the fort on important business,\nhe turned to Mr. Young and requested him to write a letter to Mr.\nHorne, at Nanaimo, to embark on H. M. S. Plumper, taking a constable with him, and endeavor to arrest the chiefs of the tribe of Bella\nBellas who had been guilty of the Penellahut massacre.\nCaptain Richards was not long in obeying the request of the\nGovernor, who gave him freedom of\naction in dealing with these\nsavages.\nPicking up the eight messengers and their canoe, Captain Richards set out for Nanaimo. There the captain took on Mr. Horne and\nConstable Gough (the first Nanaimo constable created) and set out in\npursuit of the murderous Bella Bellas. He overtook them on the\nthird day, and found them encamped on Vancouver Island, almost\nopposite Cape Mudge, at a place now known as Willow Point.\nHere the Plumper came to an anchor, putting out a stern anchor\nso as to hold the warship's broadside to the shore.\nThen Mr. Horne, who was a brave and fearless Scotchman, went\nashore, accompanied by Constable Gough. So soon as he landed he\nwalked up to where the Bella Bellas were camped, and meeting the\nchief, demanded in the name of Douglas that those who were guilty of\nthe murders on Kuper Island should be given up. But this the chief\nrefused to do and became somewhat abusive. As they neared the\nshore on their return to the ship's boat, Mr. Horne was explaining that\nextreme measures would be taken to enforce obedience to the demands\nof Governor Douglas, when Tsaltum, the chief, gave Mr. Horne a\npush, at the same time saying : \"Mika cultas wawa, hyack mika killipi\nkopa miki ship, halo nika quass.\" (You are talking nonsense; hurry\nup and return to your ship; I'm not afraid).\nNow, Mr. Horne was not a man who allowed another to push him\ntwice, let alone a Siwash, so turning swiftly he dealt the chief a mighty\nblow with the butt of his revolver upon the top of his cranium,.which\nbrought him to the ground. Everything looked threatening for a few\nmoments, but, standing his ground with a revolver in each hand, the\nbrave Orkneyman, backed up by the equally brave constable, told\nthe savages that no Siwash ever struck a Briton with impunity.\nReturning on board, after seeing the Bella Bella chief arise and\n19 stalk off to nurse hi^ -cranium, Mr. Horne went on board and reported\nto Captain Richards the result of his interview with the Bella Bella\nchief.\n\"We must resort to force and give these blood-thirsty Indians a\nlesson,\" said Captain Richards, \"but before doing so I will give them\na last chance. You see that large cedar tree ashore Mr. Horne, I will\nhave one of my guns loaded tomorrow morning and you will go ashore\nand tell them that if they do not comply with our demands at once,\nthat I will serve them in the same manner that I will serve that tree.\nBy raising your arm you will notify me that they have again refused\nand the gun will at once be discharged at the tree, and there is very\nlittle doubt but that very little of that tree will be left after the shot\nhas been fired.\"\nNext morning Mr. Horne again went ashore with constable\nGough, and, although he appreciated the very dangerous position he\nstood in, after the trouble with the chief on the previous day, no sign\nof nervousness was apparent in his face or demeanor. On the contrary, when landing, he walked boldly to where a large number of the\nsavages were congregated and, addressing Tsallum, told him he was\nthere to give him a last chance.\n\"We have the guns,\" said Mr. Horne. \"See yonder cedar tree;\nif you still refuse we will do to you what we will do to that tree. Do\nyou still refuse?\"\n\"We want to fight,\" said the savage, \"and when we are through\nwe will have your big canoe and all your goods. Get aboard your\ncanoe, and fight us if you are not afraid.\"\n\"Good,\" said Mr. Horne, and raising his arm, the signal was instantly answered by a puff of white smoke and the grape shot, tearing\nthrough the cedar, tore it into a thousand fragments.\nThe Indians took to their heels while Home returned on board\nthe warship. The war drums then began to beat, and many of the\nIndians, parading up and down, shook their arms at those on board.\nBefore parting from the Indians, Mr. Horne had warned them that\nwhen a black flag was run up, the ship would fire.\nIn compliance with this promised notice, -Capt. Richards ordered\na flag to the foremast head. Then training their guns on the defiant\nmurderers the gunners fired a broadside, which laid them low in\ngroups. But they were still defiant and some of the Indians, lying\ndown behind logs, began a fusilade upon the ship.\nAnother broadside cleared the whole front, but a large number\nran for protection behind a hill. Then a few shells dropped among\nthem disposed of many more, among whom was the principal criminal,\n20 Tsallum, himself. Then the canoes were smashed, as the greatest punishment that can be inflicted next to taking an Indian's life is to destroy\nhis canoe.\nGoing ashore after the cessation of the firing, Mr. Horne found a\nfew women huddled together in abject terror. Now, as a matter of\nfact, women with a war party are not entitled to any more consideration than the men. These women in the massacre of the Penellahuts\nemployed themselves during the massacre in striking on the head any\nhelpless wounded with a stone mallet, made and used for that purpose,\nand in doing so were guilty of the most awful cruelty it is possible to\nimagine. It is they who disfigure the wounded before killing them.\nHowever, seeing that they had everything in the form of food destroyed by gunfire, Capt. Richards had a boatload of supplies sent\nashore and deposited on the beach. This proved a great lesson to this\nhitherto troublesome tribe, as ever afterwards they behaved themselves, and were often employed by the Hudson's Bay Co. or the Government on expeditions where reliable men were wanted.\nAs for the Penellahuts, their dead bodies were not buried until\n1881, when Rev. Mr. Roberts, who was a cousin of \"Bobs,\" arrived to\nopen the Church of England mission to that inoffensive and almost\nannihilated tribe.\nOn the return of Capt. Richards in the Plumper to Victoria he\nreported what he had done to Governor Douglas. On hearing of the\ndestruction of the canoes, Governor Douglas was much enraged, as he\nsaid that it laid the Bella Bellas open to the attacks of the ferocious\nEuclataws, whose rancheria was on Cape Mudge, almost directly opposite. He threatened to have the captain tried by a naval court-\nmartial, but his anger blew itself out at that.\n21 SIR MATTHEW BAILLIE BEGBIE\nI have taken the liberty of giving a short history, and telling a few\nstories in connection with the life of the late Sir Matthew Baillie\nBegbie, the first Chief Justice of British Columbia, whose ability and\ncourage as a judge in administering the laws of a crown colony, at the\nmost critical time of its existence, have won for him the admiration\nof the English-speaking race, at least throughout Canada. This might\nbe looked upon as an exaggerated statement, but there are very few\nin Canada who speak the English language, who have not heard of\nBegbie, the upright and impartial judge, and the terror of all evildoers.\nMatthew Baillie Begbie was the eldest son of Col. T. S. Begbie\nof the 44th Foot. He was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1819, and\nafter a thorough school training entered St. Peter's College, Cambridge, where he took the degree of B.A. with honors in 1841, and\nM.A. in 1844. He was called to the bar in Lincoln's Inn in the latter\nyear, and practised his profession in England until 1858.\nIn this year Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton, secretary for the colonies, resolved on proving \"by active and original work, that he could\n23 be a practical colonial statesman, as well as a novelist, a playwright,\nand a parliamentary orator,\" introduced into the British House of\nCommons a bill creating the crown colony of British Columbia, which\nwas to comprise \"all such territories as were bounded to the south by\nthe frontier of the United States of America, to the east by the main\nchain of the Rocky Mountains, to the north by Simpson's river and\nthe Finlay branch of the Peace river, and to the west by the Pacific\nOcean.\nFor this separate colony of British Columbia a judge was required, and Matthew Baillie Begbie, at that time thirty-nine years of\nage, received the nomination of Sir Hugh (afterwards Lord) Cairns,\nand his appointment speedily followed.\nFor many months after his arrival in Victoria, Begbie acted,\nwith the consent and approval of the Colonial Secretary, as attorney-\ngeneral for the separate colony of Vancouver Island, of which Cameron was chief justice.\nCameron, at the time of his appointment as chief justice, was a\nclerk in the employ of the Hudson's Bay Company, as superintendent\nof the Xanaimo coal mines. He was not a lawyer by profession, but\nan ordinary draper, but what was of more importance, a brother-in-\nlaw of the governor. As superintendent of the coal mines he had been\npaid \u00C2\u00A3150 a year, and to overcome any objections which the colonial\nsecretary might have to his appointment, the Governor arranged that\nhe should still draw this stipend from the company, and nothing from\nthe Home Government.\nDavid Cameron's first appointment to the bench was in December, 1853, as judge of the Supreme Court. By authority of a royal\nwarrant, he was raised by Governor Douglas to the position of chief\njustice of Vancouver Island. On account of his salary being paid by\nthe Hudson's Bay Company, his appointmnet gave rise to a great deal\nof dissatisfaction among those who were not employees of the fur\ncompany. Any servant of the company who would have raised his\nvoice against the appointment would in ordinary parlance have lost\nthe number of his mess.\nCameron was succeeded by the Hon. Joseph Needham, a selection\nof Sir Bulwer-Lytton. He arrived in Victoria on the 30th September, 1865, and was sworn in as chief justice of Vancouver Island on\nthe 11th of October, 1865, which was the same day on which Cameron\nresigned. With the union of Vancouver Island and British Columbia\nthere existed two chief justices, one for the mainland (British Columbia), and one for Vancouver Island.\nWhen Chief Justice Needham landed in Victoria he understood\n24 that he would be called upon to sit in every court then in existence.\nHe had in consequence provided himself with wigs and robes to suit\nthe court he was sitting in, from the full bottomed wig of the Court of\nQueen's Bench to the more modest headgear of the County Court.\nOn the opening of the assizes he always appeared on the bench with\na full bottomed wig and scarlet robes trimmed with fur. He was likewise attended by a chaplain, like the custom in vogue in England. He\nwas extremely well posted in commercial law, and endeavored to do\nhis duty faithfully and well. Chief Justice Needham resigned in\nMarch, 1870, and was honored with knighthood, after which he was\nappointed to a judicial position in Demarara.\nMatthew Baillie Begbie was sworn in as judge of British Columbia on the 19th November, 1858, at Fort Langley, the time and place\nbeing also adopted for the proclamation of the mainland as a separate\ncolony under the name of British Columbia.\nIn 1859 and 1860 the placer mines of the Fraser were attracting\nminers from all over the world, and more especially from California.\nMany gamblers, roughs, thugs and bad men of the Golden State\nfound their way to Victoria. Not liking the aspect of affairs in that\ncity, this canaille crossed over to Whatcom, U.S.A., where they expected to see a city spring into existence, but being disappointed they\nmade their way to Yale and the mining camps along the Fraser River.\nThere was a great deal of legal business to be done in both colonies, and there was a great dearth of legal practitioners to do the\nwork. I will now refer to a celebrated case which was tried before\nJudge Begbie, and from the date of which all the ill feeling which\nexisted for years between the judge and the Hon. George A. Walkem\nhad its inception.\nI hope those who read this book will pardon my intruding what\nmight be considered almost personal matters seeing that Mr. Walkem\nwas my brother, but he was also a public man and was very much in\nthe limelight in the early history of the Province. This case was the\nCranford case, and Mr. Walkem, who had not been able to secure\nadmission to the bar, although he had been admitted to practise his\nprofession in both Upper and Lower Canada, before leaving Toronto\nfor the Pacific coast, was at the time of the suit in the employ of\nCranford. One day when discussing his case Mr. Walkem suggested\nto Cranford some legal moves it would be advisable for him to take\nin the suit which the latter was taking against Gus Wright, a trader\nand packer, for breach of contract. Mr. Cranford was so surprised at\nthe wisdom of the advice that he asked Walkem how he came to be so\nwell posted in law, and the latter replied that he was a full fledged\n25 lawyer of Upper and Lower Canada. After that conversation Walkem\nwas always consulted by the counsel in charge of the case, and when\nthe trial came on in court he was asked to take a seat beside Mr.\nCranford's counsel. No sooner did Judge Begbie notice Mr. Walkem\ngiving\" advice to counsel, than he ordered him to retire from the seats\nallotted to barristers. Some words ensued between them and from\nthat day onward the two were constantly coming; into collision in the\ncourts of the Province. This case also gave Mr. Walkem such a\ngood reputation as a lawyer, as to attract many clients, and also made\nhim many friends. Although steps were being taken by other parties\nto secure the intervention of the Secretary for the Colonies, the Duke\nof Newcastle, and an order from him to Governor Dougdas for Mr.\nWalkem's admission to practise, a petition very extensively signed\nwas presented to Governor Douglas, asking him to allow Mr. Walkem\nto follow his profession. The petition was refused, and its rejection\nwas solely due to the advice of Judge Begbie, who had not forgotten\nthe wordy dispute between them during the trial of the Cranford case.\nAbout this time a good deal of trouble arose at Hill's Bar in which\nthe notorious Ned McGowan played a very conspicuous part. The\nforeign element labored under the erroneous impression that the\nLower Fraser, Langley and Hope were in United States territory. In\na spirit of bravado, they defied the proper officers to collect taxes as\nwell as duties on goods coming in from the other side of the line. The\nauthorities, with the exception of Douglas, held this foreign element\nin some fear, but Douglas knew he could bring them very speedily\ninto subjection whenever it pleased him. However, he did not go to\nextremes, for by the Royal Engineers and Judge Begbie the majesty of\nthe law was upheld. It was at this time that Begbie first impressed\nthe lawless with a wholesome fear for British law and justice.\nA short time after this McGowan shot a man at Hill's Bar, and\nconfiding to a comrade that he had a great fear as well as respect for\nthe cut of Begbie's countenance, he left the country.\nJudge Begbie's first circuit was undertaken on March 28, 1859,\nand although his journey was a short one his report was voluminous.\nThis was sent to the Geographical Society of Great Britain and published by them and filled eleven pages of their pamphlet.\nIn his administration of the laws he endeavored to be just, but at\ntimes he was extremely tyrannical towards many barristers who\nappeared, before him.\nThe mining population were divided in their estimation of his\ndecisions. They took particular exception to his frequent annulment\nof decisions of mining recorders, of gold commissioners and county\n26 court judges, as well as his setting aside of verdicts of juries. He was\nalso complained of as being arbitrary, partial and doing illegal things.\nThe miners of Cariboo held a mass meeting, the result of which was a\npetition for his recall. But no attention was paid to this and Begbie\ncontinued on the even tenor of his way.\nIn criminal cases where the prisoner was not represented by\ncounsel, Judge Begbie invariably cross-examined all the witnesses)\njust as a counsel would have done on his behalf. He made it his duty\nto see that the man obtained fair play. Those who carried bowie\nknives, pistols and other weapons of the same nature were, when found\nguilty, treated with great severity. He showed no mercy to murderers when tried and convicted before him, and frequently tongue-\nlashed a jury when he deemed they had not done their duty. In confirmation of this I will now proceed to cite a case.\nA miner, named Gilchrist, killed another miner under the following circumstances : While Gilchrist was sitting at a faro table at William's Lake, a man named Turner came in, and throwing down a sack\nof gold dust upon the table, bet an ounce. Turner won his bet, and then\ndoubling it, placed two ounces upon the table, which bet he also\nwon. Picking up his winnings, the miner turned to leave, at the same\ntime asking Gilchrist in a good natured tone of voice, if there was any\ngame he could play better than that one. Irritated by the remark,\nGilchrist rose from his chair, and drawing his pistol pointed it at\nTurner. Just as he pulled the trigger, a spectator present turned Gilchrist half round, and the ball struck another man, who was leaning on\nthe bar of the saloon, fast asleep. He was killed instantly. Gilchrist\nwas arrested on a charge of murder.\nThe case subsequently came before Judge Begbie, and a jury\nchosen from a class of people composed of many fugitives from justice\nfrom the American side, and known to be horse thieves from the\nDalles, Oregon.\nAfter a very patient hearing of the evidence, which was clear and\nuncontradicted, Judge Begbie charged the jury very strongly against\nthe prisoner, at the same time severely condemning the carrying of\nweapons of a dangerous and deadly character. He warned the jury\nagainst being carried away by sympathy, or by the accidental nature\nof the shooting. The prisoner in attempting to kill one man, had\nkilled another. That was murder. He told them also that if they\nbelieved the evidence which had been uncontradicted, there was only\none verdict they could return, and that was \"wilful murder.\"\nThe jury retired, and after an absence of thirty minutes returned\na verdict of \"manslaughter.\" Turning to the prisoner, the chief justice\n27 said : \"Prisoner : It is far from a pleasant duty for me to have to sentence you only to imprisonment for life. I feel I am, through some\nincomprehensible reason prevented from doing my proper duty. (In a\nvoice of thunder) Your crime was unmitigated, diabolical murder.\nYou deserve to be hanged! Had the jury performed their duty I\nmight now have the painful satisfaction of condemning you to death,\nand you, gentlemen of the jury, you are a pack of Dalles horse thieves,\nand permit me to say, it would give me great pleasure to see you\nhanged, each and every one of you, for declaring a murderer guilty\nonly of manslaughter.\"\nGilchrist escaped the rope, but was sentenced by Judge Begbie\nto penal servitude for life. At that period in the history of British\nColumbia there was no penitentiary, as there is now, but the common\ngaol of New Westminster was used for that purpose, and in it were\nconfined all manners of convicts, of long and short terms. It was to\nthis prison, therefore, that Gilchrist was conveyed to serve out his\nsentence. After being in this gaol three or four years, he met one\nday, in the yard one of the most desperate thugs that ever crossed the\ninternational boundary line. Taking hold of the sleeve of his prison\njacket, the criminal told Gilchrist that a conspiracy had been entered\ninto by the long term prisoners, to fix on a certain day, to attack, and\npossibly kill their guards, on filing out from breakfast, escape from the\nprison, and with the aid of outside friends, make their way back to\nthe United States.\nGreat was the surprise of this convict when Gilchrist refused to\nhave anything to do with the conspiracy. In a few words Gilchrist\ninformed him that he had one life on his conscience, and he resolutely\nrefused to engage in any plot, especially when its success was dependent on the taking of human life.\nIn the course of the day he considered it his duty to inform the\nwarden of the jail of the plans of the conspirators. That night a\nsearch of the cells was made before the convicts were locked up at\nthe close of the day, with the result that packages of red pepper, and\neven pistols were found concealed in some of the bedding. Governor\nSeymour paid a visit to the gaol, and after hearing from Gilchrist the\nwhole story of the plot, pardoned him there and then.\nA few years later some citizens of New Westminster paid a visit\nto San Francisco, and while there went with some friends to inspect\nthe San Quentin penitentiary on the other side of the bay. They\nwere shown round by the warden, a most gentlemanly official. Just\nbefore leaving, the warden said to one of the visitors from New Westminster :\n28 \"Do you recognize or know who I am?\"\n\"Yes,\" said the gentleman addressed, \"I knew you the moment 1\nlaid eyes on you, and remember you well in old Cariboo. Your name\nis Gilchrist.\"\n'Yes,\" admitted the warden, \"but please do not call me by that\nname. Ever since I left British Columbia I have lived in California\nand changed my name and mode of life. Now I am warden of this\nprison, so if you have any sympathy for me never mention my name\nor allude to that horrible time, which I wish to forget.\"\nThe visitors promised to comply with his request. He is now\ndead or I would not refer to the matter here.\nAnother similar case occurred in Victoria not very many years\nago. A well known mining man, named Robertson, had been sandbagged and killed in a most cowardly and brutal manner. The evidence against the prisoner in the opinion of the chief justice was clear\nand most convincing. I think the judge was right. The prisoner got\na very patient and fair hearing. The evidence was submitted by the\ncrown in anything but a vindictive manner, but the crown counsel\ncalled for justice to be meted out and an example made of men of the\nprisoner's type of character which others would take earnestly to\nheart.\nIn summing up the chief justice told the jury, as in the case of\nGilchrist, that there was only one verdict which they could return,\nand that was \"guilty of wilful murder.\" The jury retired and after\nbeing out only a few minutes returned a verdict of \"not guilty.\" The\nmost surprised man in that court that day was the prisoner himself.\nAddressing the foreman in his most courteous manner, the chief\njustice said:\n\"Mr. Foreman\u00E2\u0080\u0094with your permission I will say a few words to\nthe gentleman in the dock?\"\nThe Foreman (delighted to be thus addressed by the chief justice :\nCertainly, my lord; certainly, I have no objection whatever.\nThe Chief Justice (turning to the prisoner)\u00E2\u0080\u0094You have escaped.\nThe jury in their infinite wisdom have declared that you are not guilty\nof sandbagging the deceased. In return for this I.would simply\nstate that 3^ou would do me an inestimable favor if, after leaving this\ncourthouse, you sandbag each and every one of that jury, and see that\nnot one escapes. As I said before, you have escaped! You can go.\nCaptain John Thain, an old pioneer of this province, was called to\nhis fathers some years ago, and buried in Victoria. Four large granite\nstones marked the four corners of his grave. These stones were connected with each other by steel chains to prevent people from tramp-\n29 ling over the grave. One day these chains were missed, and a man,\nwlio was subsequently tried at the assize, was arrested, charged with\nstealing them and then selling them in a junk shop. This case was\nalso tried before Begbie, and the evidence was very clear against the\nprisoner.\nThe chief justice told the jury what he thought they ought to do\nand if they were honest men could find but one verdict and that was\nguilty. Here again the jury did not see eye to eye with the chief\njustice. They brought in a verdict of \"not .guilty.\"\n\"What?\" exclaimed the chief justice, \"do I hear correctly?\"\nThe Registrar\u00E2\u0080\u0094Not guilty, my lord !\nChief Justice (addressing the jury)\u00E2\u0080\u0094This verdict you have\nbrought in is a disgrace to British justice. Have you not common\nintelligence ?\nI think, sir, (looking at the jury) by this verdict you have\nshown that you are not fit to sit on any jury where common intelligence is a requisite.\"\nTo the Prisoner\u00E2\u0080\u0094\"The jury have seen fit to allow you to escape.\nIt is my opinion, however, that you have been guilty of stealing these\nchains from a late Victoria citizen's grave, and the crime is about as\nmean a one as stealing coppers from a dead man's eyes. You can go.\"\nAnother case was called and a jury was in course of selection\nwhen the name of the foreman of the preceding jury was called.\nTaking a quick step forward this juror addressed his lordship as\nfollows : \"Noble lord. After the remarks which your lordship saw\nfit to make about the preceding jury, of which I was the foreman, I\ndon't think I am fit to\u00E2\u0080\u0094\"\nThe chief justice (interrupting)\u00E2\u0080\u0094\"I quite agree with you, sir, I\ndon't think you are fit to sit on this, or any other jury. Mr. Sheriff,\nstrike this man's name off the panel.\"\nThe gentleman who thought he was about to take the chief justice down a peg or two, retired discomfited.\nBut the chief justice could be very facetious at times, and before\nI proceed to give an instance of this kind I must tell another story.\nWhen Judge Begbie was sojourning in New Westminster in the early\ndays, some of its good citizens pressed upon the attention of the judge\na mining claim which had been staked on a creek which ran under\nHon. Henry Holbrook's building. This claim they had salted with\npyrites and other material which to the uninitiated, resembled gold\nin appearance. Here his lordship stood with trousers rolled up\nto his knees, and pan in hand washing the gravel.\nOn the side of the creek stood a glass containing the gold (?)\n30 which he had washed and which nobody dared to handle. The glass\nwas half full. His success created such a stampede that Capt. Spauld-\ning, S.M., applied for a company of Royal Engineers to guard against\na riot. The price asked for the claim was $500\u00E2\u0080\u0094and the judge was\nabout to close with the offer when Mrs. Lewis, an old-timer, advised\nhim to try and cut his washings with a knife. He fell in with the\nsuggestion, with the result that the deal was off. Hon. Wymond\nHamley was a partner of Judge Begbie on this occasion.\nA year or so after this episode a banquet was given by the New\nWestminster city council to which Judge Begbie was invited. Among\nthe toasts offered on that occasion was one by the late Hon. John\nRobson to \"New Westminster's Pioneer Miner Matthew Baillie Beb-\nbie,\" which was drunk, so the chronicler told m\u00C3\u00A8, amid great enthusiasm. Begbie never forgot that incident, and often in the latter\ndays of his life mentioned it to me.\nThomas was the name of a man who kept a boot and shoe store\nin New Westminster. He had hung a pair of boots upon a nail outside\nthe door of his shop. An Indian passing saw the boots, and thinking\nthat he needed them more than Thomas did, took them and fled. He\nwas shortly afterwards arrested and brought before a magistrate, who\ncommitted him for trial.\nI was at that time living at the Hastings Mill, and being a witness\nin a case, attended the same assize at which this Indian was to stand\nhis trial. Chief Justice Begbie presided. The sittings were opened\nin due and ancient form, Mr. W. Norman Bole appearing for the first\ntime as crown prosecutor. After several cases had been disposed of\nthe Indian's name was called, and he stepped into the dock. His appearance there was the signal for considerable confusion in the body\nof the court, constables and ushers running hither and thither, and the\nsheriff assuming a very anxious expression of countenance. All of\nthis did not escape the eagle eye of Sir Matthew, who, ieaning over the\nfront of the desk, addressed the crown prosecutor, and the following\ncolloquy ensued :\nSir Matthew\u00E2\u0080\u0094Mr. Attorney ! Is there no Indian interpreter in\ncourt?\nCrown Prosecutor\u00E2\u0080\u0094No, my lord, but we have^sent for one and he\nwill be here shortly.\nSir Matthew\u00E2\u0080\u0094'Very strange ! Very strange ! But, Mr. Attorney,\nis not the prevailing language of New Westminster Chinook?\nCrown Prosecutor\u00E2\u0080\u0094No, my lord, I have never heard such to be\nthe case;\n31 Sir Matthew\u00E2\u0080\u0094But, Mr. Attorney, is it not a fact that more people\nof this city speak Chinook than Indians speak English ?\nCrown Prosecutor\u00E2\u0080\u0094I believe it is, my lord.\nSir Matthew\u00E2\u0080\u0094Quite so, Mr. Attorney, quite so. It simply shows\nthe natural tendency of a people to fall back to the original state.\nI have been told that Mr. Bole made quite a pointed remark to the\nchief justice, but if such a remark was made I did not catch it. However, the judge told the crown prosecutor to let the Indian's case stand\nover until an interpreter was obtained.\nAt another assize I heard one of the most scathing addresses to a\nconvicted prisoner to which I have ever listened. Before hearing this\none I had in my mind the address of Judge Aylwin to Barreau, a man\nconvicted in Montreal of murder in the village of Laprairie in 1865 or\n1866. It was a fearful lashing, but did not approach in severity the\none which I will now repeat.\nA man was brought up on an indictment charging him with\nhaving entered a church and broken open a box containing money\nbelonging to some Sunday School children, which was hanging on the\nwall. The money was to be devoted towards the establishment of a\nSunday School library.\nSir Matthew was again presiding. The prisoner appeared in the\ndock with three medals upon his breast. One medal was a Crimean\none, with three clasps for Inkerman, Balaclava and Sebastopol, a Turkish medal (Medije), and an Indian medal with the Lucknow clasp. He\nwas undefended, but Sir Matthew cross-examined every witness in the\nhope that he might find some redeeming feature for a British soldier.\nAfter the evidence was all submitted, the jury retired and the prisoner\ndisappeared. In twenty or thirty minutes the jury returned to court,\nand so did the prisoner, who, however, had removed his medals from\nhis breast. The verdict was \".guilty.\"\nSir Matthew, after the usual question had been asked the prisoner\nif he had anything to say why the sentence of the court should not be\npassed upon him, and had given a negative shake of his head, paused\nfor some time. I could see that this was a very painful case for him.\nSuddenly collecting himself, he first addressed the crown prosecutor:\n\"Mr. Attorney, I scarcely know how to deal with this case\u00E2\u0080\u0094(a\nlong pause)\u00E2\u0080\u0094Prisoner, you are the most consummate scoundrel that\never disgraced a dock. To think that you, decked out in all Her\nMajesty's war paint, which you no doubt obtained by skulking in the\ntrenches before Sebastopol, should arm yourself with an instrument\nlike a hatchet, and crawl into the House of God upon your hands and\nknees, and break open a box in which the little children had placed\n32 their sixpences to purchase books wherewith to make themselves more\nacquainted with their Maker ! Ugh ! A Siwash would not do it. A\nChinaman would not do it, but if on the other hand you had decked\nyourself out in this war paint which, as I said before, you no doubt obtained by skulking in the trenches before Sebastopol, and had armed\nyourself with a double-barrelled gun and crawled up behind some poor\nwretch and blown his brains out\u00E2\u0080\u0094there might have been some merit in\nthat, for you would have had the sure and certain conviction in your\nown mind that you would, if convicted, have been sentenced by me to\nbe hanged by the neck in the shortest space of time which God and the\nlaw would have allowed ; but I think eighteen months will meet all of\nthe requirements of your case.\n\"When you come out, never shake an honest man by the hand\u00E2\u0080\u0094\nnever look an honest man in the face! Go to the other side of the\nworld, where you are not known. Should you be so unwise as to stay\nin this country, and should your form again throw its shadow in this\ncourthouse, charged with crime, and you are found guilty, and I am\nsitting on this bench, I will send you to a place where you will speak\nto your fellow men no more, at least while there incarcerated. Go\ndown ! Warder, take him out of my sight.\"\nThere is no doubt but that the sight of medals upon this man's\nbreast gave the chief justice intense irritation, the more especially as\nCol. Begbie, the judge's father, was a Peninsular veteran.\nWhen Judge Begbie was holding an assize about two years after\nhis arrival in the colony, a notorious horse thief, bully, and all-round\nbad man, who had been driven out of \"hang town\" at the foot of the\nSierra Nevada mountains by a vigilance committee, was convicted of\nstabbing a man near Williams Lake, and was up before the judge for\nsentence. This was the first case of using a bowie knife which had\ncome before his lordship. The court was crowded, as the general public, consisting of all sorts and conditions of men, were very anxious to\nascertain of what kind of mettle this British judge was composed.\nTaking a very deliberate survey of his audience, Judge Begbie\nsaid : \"Prisoner, I am glad to see that your case has drawn together,\nin this temporary court of justice, so many of your compatriots. I am\ngiven to understand that the mining class of the western states look\nupon liberty as a condition- of life which gives them the right to defy\nthe laws of their country, and to govern it according to their wishes\nby the might of the bowie knife and Colt's revolver. You, prisoner,\nare a good representative of that class, and I am told that there are\nmany more of your kidney within the sound of my voice.\n33 \"Let me define for those who have come from the United States\nwhat our laws look upon as liberty. It is laid down very clearly so\nthat no person can make any mistake as to its meaning. \"Liberty is\nthe power of doing what is allowed by law. When you go beyond\nthat you indulge in license.\" I have been appointed a judge to interpret the law, and to see that the law is carried out. We have a law\nwhich prohibits the use of bowie knives, pistols and other offensive\nweapons, and in those countries over which the British flag flies there\nis no necessity for carrying or using offensive weapons, and let me tell\nthose who are in court that in the course of my duty I will punish most\nseverely all those who, coming into this British colony, make use of\nsuch deadly weapons. Prisoner, the jury have very properly found\nyou guilty of this wanton and cowardly attack. You will spend three\nyears in a place of confinement to be determined on, and in giving you\nthis sentence I feel that I have been very lenient with you.\"\nI have often heard a story to the effect that on one occasion on\nsentencing a man he directed him to pay a fine of six hundred dollars,\nand that the man interjected the remark, \"Oh, that's easy; I have that\nin my pants' pocket\u00E2\u0080\u0094\" and so on. I am sorry to spoil this story, but\nthis anecdote is not a Begbie one. The same story was told about a\nnoted judge of Missouri, and was published in Harper's Magazine\nwhen I was a boy.\nA correspondent of a United States journal, who was travelling\nthrough British Columbia, heard many stories about the judge, and\nduly chronicled them in his paper. One of these was that when on\nassize in Cariboo he always made it his business to spend his Sundays\nin selecting the trees on which to hang his victims who might be convicted during the week. This, of course, was untrue.\nIn the course of his duties as a criminal judge in the early days,\nJudge Begbie received many threatening letters, both anonymous and\nsigned, in which the writer threatened to do bodily harm and worse\nto the judge in case he punished with severity certain parties about to\nbe tried. One of these writers he had arrested and brought before\nhim, and after lecturing him on the gravity of his offence, discharged\nhim with the remark that he and others like him were beneath contempt or his notice.\nIt was said that he was afraid to go to Rock Creek during the\nso-called Rock Creek war. As a matter of fact, he earnestly asked\nGovernor Douglas to be sent there, but the governor told him that he\nhad duties of greater importance to deal with near the coast, and that\nhe, the governor, and Judge Cox would deal with the situation.\n34 One one occasion when trying a case at Yale, Mr. Uriah Nelson\nwas the principal witness. It was a civil suit. This gentleman was,\nas all old timers know, a celebrated character in British Columbia's\ncommercial life. In giving his evidence he did a little fencing with\nthe lawyer who was examining him. At last Judge Begbie turned to\nthe witness and said :\n\"Witness, be careful ! Do not prevaricate.\"\nWell, the examination of the witness was resumed, and* Mr. Nelson resumed his fencing with the examining barrister. Then Judge\nBegbie turned on the witness and in a voice of thunder said :\n\"Witness, I told you a few moments ago to be careful, and to\ncease prevaricating. If you do not pay attention to what I tell you,\nI will commit you.\"\n\"Well, judge,\" said Uriah, with a long drawl, \"how can a fellow\nhelp prevaricating when he's lost all his front teeth?\"\nThe court broke into a roar of laughter, in which the judge joined.\nAt a time in our provincial history when we were short of county\ncourt judges, the judges of the supreme court often took up the work\nof these lower courts. On two or three occasions the amount sued\nfor did not exceed in value more than two or three dollars. When\nthese cases were called the judge would put his hand in his vest pocket and, taking out the amount, would settle the case, at the same\ntime remarking that his time was too valuable to be frittered away in\npetty suits of this kind.\nThe late judge was very fond of music, and when the Philharmonic Society was organized in Victoria, many years ago, he was its\nfirst president. When living in New Westminster as judge of British Columbia, he sang in the choir of the cathedral (Church of England) and his voice could be heard drawling out at the end of a verse\nafter every one had ceased singing. He had a chair placed for his\nuse outside of the choir, as the seats would not admit his long legs\nbetween the rows. For some years antecedent to his death he was\na member of the choir of what was known as the \"iron church,\" Victoria, and frequently read the lessons, and a remarkable good reader\nhe was.\nThe late Ike Johns used to tell a story about Judge Begbie (whom\nhe did not know at the time by sight, but simply by reputation), having come to his cabin one night in Richfield and borrowed an overcoat,\nwhich was of a pattern commonly used by American soldiers. The\nnight was dark and the weather very wet. As he passed the coat\nout to him, he said: \"Stranger, you want to keep a good look out for\nthat man Begbie; he will give you six months on sight for wearing\n35 one of those coats.\" The coat was returned next day while Johns\nwas in the mine.\nSir Matthew was very fond of both shooting and fishing. With\nthe gun he was very handy, being a good shot, right or left.\nOne day a curious accident occurred to him in New Westminster\nwhen the judge was shooting in the swamp at the lower end of the\ncity. The late Mr. C. E. Pooley was with him. A snipe arose and\ndarted off on swiftly moving wings. Up went the judge's gun; he\nfired, and the bird dropped. Beautiful shot! was it not, Mr. Pooley?\"\nin which remark the latter concurred.\nAlmost immediately after this remark was made, Jack Fannin,\nlate curator of the provincial museum, came out of a cabin on the\nopposite side of the swamp, bleeding from a wound on the nose directly between his eyes. One of the shot had passed through Jack's window and wounded him. The judge immediately went over to Jack,\nand with him went to Mr. Adolphus Peele, at that time a druggist,\nwho removed the shot. On regaining the street, the judge remarked:\n\"That was not such a beautiful shot after all, Mr. Pooley.\"\nIn stature Sir Matthew was over six feet, and would have been a\nremarkable figure in any company.\n36 MR. HORNE'S TRIP ACROSS VANCOUVER ISLAND\nIn Nanaimo, on one\nbeautiful morning in the\nmonth of May, 1883, an\nold friend of mine was\nsitting on a bench in the\ncentre of his well-kept\nlawn. Mr. Adam Horne\nwas a gentleman who\nhad once seen very strenuous times in the service\nof the Hudson's Bay Co.\nHe was now approaching\nthe sere and yellow leaf\nin physical strength, but\nhis brain was as clear\nand as active as ever. His\ntales of bygone days were\nalways a strong temptation to me to seek his\ncompany and draw from\nhis inexhaustible store\nsome interesting tale of\nadam horne the early pathfinders.\nOpening the garden gate I approached the old gentleman, who\nwas leaning forward, with his hands crossed over the head of his\nstout walking stick, and his forehead resting on his hands. \"Good\nmorning,\" I said, and he looked up at me through a pair of gold-\nrimmed spectacles. After a moment's hesitation he replied : \"Good\nmorning, doctor, I knew your voice, but my sight is failing me, and\nI did not at once recognize your face.\" Still holding my hand, he\nremarked : \"I was thinking of bygone days and of the many strange\nincidents of my earlier life in the service of the company, and all at\nonce it occurred to me that was this day the anniversary of the murder of the small tribe of Indians who lived at the Qualicum, by a party\nof Haidahs from the Queen Charlotte Islands. It was one of the\nmost cruel massacres that have ever happened on the Pacific coast of\nBritish Columbia. I was thinking of it when you spoke to me, and\nthe incidents of that tragedy are as vividly clear to my memory today\nas they were at the time of its occurrence. But sit down and enjoy\nthe ozone of this balmy atmosphere. Sir George Simpson was a\ngreat believer in British Columbia ozone.\" His reference to a massacre stimulated my curiosity, so I asked him to kindly tell me all about it. Changing my seat into a garden chair, I awaited his reply.\nAfter a moment's pause, he said:\n\"The story in connection with this massacre is a long one, because it is interwoven with the account of the first trip made by a\nwhite man across Vancouver Island. This account is interesting\nfrom a historical point of view, and of some importance because it\nhas never before been told. But to us, the old employes of the Hudson's Bay Company, these happenings were of passing interest because they were in the ordinary course of duty and of everyday occurrence. I will do my best and ask you to be patient and make some\nallowance for the infirmities of one who is now well advanced in\nyears.\"\nI was more than pleased and promising him my best attention\nsettled back in my chair to hear his narrative.\n\"In 1855, or thereabouts, I was, as I am now, living in Nanaimo ;\nI have no record of the exact date. Roderick Finlayson, who was\nthe Hudson's Bay Company's official in charge of Fort Victoria, sent\nme word that he desired to see me at the fort. I accordingly met him\nthere. Then he told me why he had sent for me. He said he wished\nme to undertake a somewhat dangerous expedition, and calling me to\nhis side, he pointed out on a rough sketch, which he held in his hand,\na creek on the east side of Vancouver Island, and a short distance\nnorth of Nanaimo. This creek he called the Qualicum. He explained\nthat the Company was anxious to ascertain whether a trail existed\nfrom the Qualicum to the head of Barclay Sound, and if not whether\nit was possible to construct one at a low figure. He told me that I had\nbeen selected to head a small expedition to proceed to the creek, interview the Indians there, and if a trail existed ask their permission to use\nit. We believe, he said, that the natives of both sides of the island use a\ntrail of some kind, and we look to you to find it.\" Mr. Finlayson then\ncontinued : 'The natives at the Qualicum are said to be of the same\ntribe as those at Cape Mudge. Their dwellings are inside the mouth of\nthe creek. You will use great circumspection in approaching these people on the subject of using the trail, if there is one. They are not well\nknown to the Company, but their relatives at Cape Mudge have a very\nbad reputation for treachery and theft. If they refuse to give you any\ninformation, or deny you the use of their trail, you will at once leave\ntheir camp, and use your own discretion in completing your task.\nAbove all things be constantly on your guard against treachery. You\nwill be allowed to choose four out of your six companions. There is\none man we are sending with you and for whom you must find room.\nHis name is Cote, a French-Canadian. He is a good canoeman ;\n38 knows the waters of this coast thoroughly, is invaluable in a crisis,\nand does not know what fear means. We will also furnish you with\nan interpreter and with all necessary supplies of which you will furnish us a list, and also with some small goods for presents to the\nnatives of both coasts. You will proceed to carry out these orders\nwithout delay.'\n\"It was early in the day when I had this interview with Mr.\nFinlayson, and at once proceeded to write out a list of what we might\nneed, which I handed in within an hour. I was told that they would\nbe packed ready for transportation in the canoe that afternoon, in\nseveral small tarpaulins, which might be of use on the trip should 1\nrequire to cache any of my supplies. I made preparations to leave\nFort Victoria by the flood tide next morning, which set in about half\npast four. I looked up four other men to accompany me, one of\nwhom was an Iroquois, one of the old engages of the campany. We\nall met that night, including the interpreter, Lafromboise, and Cote,\nThis man Cote was a peculiar character, with a shock of wiry curly\nhair, which hung in ringlets about his shoulders. He was greatly\ngiven to profanity, but which he always confined to the French\nlanguage.\nNext morning the canoe was brought around to the foot of what\nis now known as Fort street, and on entering the fort we found all.\nour goods packed into portable packages. These we carried down\nand placed in the canoe. Mr. Finlayson came down to see us off, a\nremarkable thing for a gentleman in his position to do, but it showed\nthe interest he took in the expedition. Cote entered and took his\nplace in the stern, and we all followed. The canoe was pushed off\nand we made for the outer waters, and as we disappeared round the\nbend we saw the chief factor waving us an adieu with his lantern,\nfor it was not quite daylight.\nWhen we got out into the gulf we met a stiff southerly breeze\nand a fast flowing favorable tide. Sail was hoisted, and under its\npressure and the rising tide, we bowled along nearly all that day at a\ngreat clip. The c\u00C3\u00A2noe which the Company furnished us with was\nwhat is known as a Haidah canoe. It was roomy and light and would\nhave been an excellent model for a large vessel. It behaved well in\na heavy sea, and we met many that day, throwing the water from its\nbow as it rose on the stormy brine like a duck. We saw no natives\non our long run that day. As evening approached the wind gradually\ndied down to a light breeze off shore, so we thought it better to go\ninto camp for the night. It was some little time before we settled\nwhere we would land, as we wished to obtain a spot where we might\n39 be able to have a camp secure from the intrusion of natives, who generally prove a great nuisance, being always \"hyas kla-howya\" and\nsticking to a camp until they eat you out.\n\"We landed in a snug- bay on the west side of what is now known\nas Salt Spring Island, so called from some salt springs which were\nfound there. We made a small camp fire and after a hearty supper,\nmade preparations for bed. I appointed a Red River half-breed as\nnight watch, with orders to call us early. We sat around the camp\nfire for some time, the several men, who were all voyageurs of the\nold school, telling some very interesting stories. We finally rolled\ninto our blankets and were soon sound asleep. It was half past four\nwhen the watchman called us next morning. He had breakfast all\nready, which we soon disposed of. Once more we loaded and manned\nthe canoe and, like on the previous day, had a fair tide as well as\nfast breeze to carry us on our northern journey. We sailed between\nmany islands, beautifully clothed in verdure to the very water's edge.\nAbout 10 a.m. as we were slipping through a rather wide stretch\nof open water, we saw a deer about a mile distant on our port side,\nswimming for his life toward Vancouver Island with three wolves\nin pursuit. The deer was evidently holding his own. It was too far\nout of our course, or I would have directed the crew to make some\nattempt to intercept and kill it, as we were much in want of fresh\nmeat.\n\"We saw many canoes, all manned by natives, fishing. Although\nthey saw us they made no attempt to get better acquainted. We\ncamped that night on the eastern side of Newcastle Island. As it\nwas our object to escape observation, we made no fire, as it might\nhave been seen by the natives living at the mouth of the Nanaimo\nRiver. We lay concealed on this island until- nine o'clock next night,\nwhen we again put the canoe in the water. We had a stiff southerly\nbreeze at our backs, and every appearance of an approaching storm.\nThe water was very rough, sometimes pouring over the sides of the\ncanoe in bucketsful. Although there were no Indian settlements\nalong the coast, we saw many camp fires on the beach as we sailed\nby, which must have been those of Siwashes going north or south.\nAt 2.30 a.m. we ran on a mud flat, which Cote said was near the\nmouth of a river, five miles south of the Qualicum. We managed to\nget off again, but the wind approaching a gale, we had to land on a\nlong, flat beach, a few miles further north. The wind had changed,\nand was now blowing from the north. As the water's edge was\nsome distance from the timber, we had hard work packing our supplies and the canoe up into the bush. The beach was rough, and\n40 covered with heavy boulders, and as it was as dark as Erebus the\nmoving of the canoe into the brush and timber was attended with\nheavy work and many falls. We were rewarded, however, by finding\nthe snuggest place for a camp that one could desire. It afforded\nsplendid protection against the gale which was still blowing heavily.\nTired out, we all turned into our blankets and went to sleep.\nIt must have been six o'clock next morning, or a little later, when\nthe Iroquois aroused me, and told me in a subdued voice, that we were\nwithin one mile of the Qualicum, and that, for some time, he had\nS.P.Ouctge\nHORNE ENTERING THE BIG QUALICUM.\nbeen watching a large fleet of northern canoes approaching the creek.\nW^hat they intended doing, of course, he did not know, but he anticipated trouble.\nWe were fully awake without any loss of time, and from the edge\nof the timber we saw these large northern canoes enter the creek one\nafter the other, and disappear behind the brush which bordered the\nbanks of the stream. Then we took breakfast, and while doing so,\nthick volumes of smoke arose from the creek and poured down across\nthe front of the timber where we lay concealed.\n'We waited patiently to see whether those Indians would return\nor not. It was fully twelve o'clock before the first of them came into\nview in the lower reaches of the creek. We were horrified at the\nantics of these demons in human shape, as they rent the air with their\nshouts and yells. One or two of those manning each canoe would\nbe standing upright going through strange motions and holding a\nhuman head by the hair in either or both hands. The wind at this\ntime was almost blowing a hurricane from the north, and the sea was\n41 tipped with angry white caps in every direction. Turning the prows\nof their canoes to the south, these northern Indians hoisted mats as\nsails, and fairly flew along before the gale. In an hour s time they\nwere all out of sight behind a bend in the shore line. There was no\ndoubt in our mind but that we were about to face some dreadful\ntragedy.\nAfter lying concealed another hour we once more launched our\ncanoe, loaded it up with our supplies and impedimenta, and poled our\nway along the shallow beach towards what we were now convinced\nwas the mouth of the Qualicum. On account of its south eastern approach being extremely shallow, we had to make a detour and enter\nfrom the north. In the creek we found the current swift and a great\nvolume of water to contend with, so we continued the use of the poles.\nBoth sides of the creek were covered with'small brush to the water's\nedge. In case we met with any natives, who might give us a hostile\nreception, all of our men had their muskets loaded and lying by their\nsides. We saw nothing of the rancherie on entering, but volumes of\nsmoke were still pouring out from one side of the stream beyond a\nprojecting point, covered with heavy timber.\nIn five minutes we were round this point, and then a most desolate and pitiable condition of things met our view. What had evidently been a rancherie was now a blackened heap of burning timbers.\nNaked bodies could be seen here and there, but not a living being was\nin sight. Our interpreter called out several times that if there was\nany person living to come out\u00E2\u0080\u0094that we were friends, and would do\nthem no harm. He got no answer, except the echoes from the surrounding hills, and he then walked over to where the lifeless bodies\nwere lying. Horror of horrors ! Every trunk was headless and fearfully mutilated. We searched the surrounding underbrush for living\nbeings, but without success. Discouraged, we sat down upon a drift\nlog to discuss what we should do. Some of my men were for returning at once to Fort Victoria, but this I positively refused to do. I\nwas sent out to do a certain work, and that work must be done, jr a\ngood reason given for my failure. There were no Qualicum Indians\nfrom whom I could gain my information, so I must try and find the\ntrail without assistance. If there were any left they must be prisoners in the hands of these northern Indians. While discussing- our\nown position as the result of this massacre, the Iroquois suddenly\nleft us, and walked diagonally toward the bank of the creek. Then\nhe halted as though he were listening. He stood in one attitude of\nkeen attention for some moments, and then glided with moccasined\nfeet toward the creek. There he lay down and placed his ear to the\n42 ground. Rising he went a few yards further down the bank of the\ncreek and lay down again with his arm well over the edge of the\nbank, beneath an overhanging maple tree, and extending his arm he\nbent it underneath the bank and drew the living body of a naked\nIndian woman from her place of concealment. She was a fearful\nsight. Old and wizened, she held a bow in her dying grasp, and was\nchanting some dirge in a low monotone. On her left side she had an\nugly wound, from which the blood was flowing freely. This, with\nher pale face, and her very weak condition, told me that her end was\nnear. However, she was not too far gone to speak, for she murmured\nsomething, and looked at us all, with fear expanded eyes. Evidently\nwe were the first white people she had ever seen. I gave her a little\nrum and water, and then called Lafromboise, the interpreter, to my\nside. I asked him to question her as to what had taken place. After\nmany attempts to get her to speak, he at last succeeded in obtaining\nthe following story:\nThey had all been asleep in the large rancherie when the Haidahs\ncrept in with stealthy step, and more than half of those asleep were\nkilled without awakening. The remainder were quickly killed, there\nbeing five Haidahs to one of themselves. She was wounded with a\nspear, but had seized a bow and fled to the side of the creek and had\nhidden herself beneath the bank. The Haidahs had taken away with\nthem two young women, four little girls, and two small boys. This\nexpedition was in revenge for the killing of one of the Haidahs when\nattempting to carry off the daughter of one of the principal men who\nlive where the death curents meet (Cape Mudge). Beyond this we\ncould get no further information. Her voice became weaker and\nher breathing more difficult, until she finally became insensible. As\nI looked down on her I could not help thinking of the uncertain and\nunsettled condition in which these people lived. At no time could\nthey consider themselves safe from the attacks of other tribes, even\nwhen they were supposed to be living on terms of the greatest friendship. Even as I looked at her, her eyes became fixed, her jaw dropped\u00E2\u0080\u0094she had passed away.\n\"This camp, with its headless bodies, was no place for us, so we\nreturned to our canoes and left the creek as we had entered. Paddling\ntwo miles up the coast, we landed and removed our supplies, and\nplaced them on the beach. Then paddling a short distance further\nnorth, we cached our canoe in some thick shrubbery. After returning\nto where we left our supplies, we dug a hole, wrapped in tarpaulin\nwhat we thought would be sufficient to take us to Fort Victoria, after\nreturning from the west coast, placed these supplies in the hole, filled\n43 it up, smoothed it over, and then made a fire over all. This effectually concealed our cache.\n\"At this point we struck into the forest, taking a southerly course,\nin the hope of striking the trail if there might be one. After a most\narduous trip of four hours we struck a trail going in a N. N. \A .\ndirection. We had thus far only covered four miles. The underbrush was heavy and thick, and interspersed were recumbent giants,\nin all stages of decay. These lay lengthways, crossways and every\nother way, in wild confusion. With heavy packs upon our shoulders,\nthe ups and downs of that journey were very exhausting, and when\nwe reached the trail we were thoroughly spent. Some of my men\nwished to camp here, but Cote and the Iroquois both objected, as\nthey said it was too close to the Qualicum rancherie. They both\npointed out that we were totally ignorant as to whether any of the\ntribe were absent at the time of the massacre, and were some absent,\nand return, they would institute a search, and finding us so close, they\nmight decide that we were the murderers of their friends. With this\nI agreed and we continued our march along the trail until dusk, when\nwe emerged from the forest upon the shore of a large and placid sheet\nof water, which we knew must be the lake which the trail was said to\nlead to. We made our camp inside a lovely grove of arbutus. We\nhad supper, and then, tired men as we were, rolled ourselves in our\nblankets and soon were sound asleep.\nAbout midnight I was awakened by the howling of wolves and the\nscreech of a cougar close to our camp. I got up and piled more wood\non the fire, which was nearly out. I was never in any part of the Pacific coast where I heard so many owls calling to one another. Whether\nour presence disturbed them or not, I cannot say, but for hours the\ncries of at least three different species of owl broke in upon the usual\nsilence of the night. The screech owls were particularly noisy, as they\ncalled and answered their friends and neighbors, probably telling one\nanother of the arrival of a new species of the genus homo, who did not\nsmell of salmon, and who had invaded their ancient homes. As I returned to my couch Cote got up, and said he would remain awake\nand guard the camp, as he did not like the proximity of hungry wolves,\nwith our supplies at their mercy, if there was no one awake to guard\nthem. The last I saw of him as I dropped off to sleep, was with his\neyes gazing fixedly into the trees above him, looking for the great cat\nwhich was giving vent to the most blood-curdling screeches every few\nminutes. He had nothing to report next morning, except that two\nlarge timber wolves kept hovering round the provisions, but always\nunder shelter of the underbrush.\n44 I was up next morning bright and early, and taking a small pole\nas an improvised fishing rod, and my musket under my arm, I wended\nmy way towards the lake. As I emerged on the shore, I saw a cow\nelk and a young calf standing up to their knees in the waters of the\nlake, having a morning drink. They saw me at the same time, but\nthey did not appear to have the least fear of me. Our camp was\nmuch in want of fresh meat, so I made up my mind to kill the calf.\nMaking a slight detour to get the cow elk out of the line of fire, I\ncrept up to within forty yards of them and shot the calf through the\nneck. She fell dead in the water, and the Iroquois coming up at the\nsame time, dressed the beast and carried the carcase into camp. With\na hook and line and a piece of dried venison I tried my luck in this\nlake, the first white man to do so, and with very flattering results.\nThe water was very clear and cold, and I could see the trout moving\nabout in every direction. In fact, this lake fairly teemed with fish.\nJust as soon as I had caught sufficient to meet the wants of our camp\nI detached my line, and walking back gave my catch to the man whose\nturn it was to cook the breakfast that morning. As the men were\nvery tired from the previous day's work, we did not start on the trail\nagain until after the noonday meal. We had a haunch of young venison for dinner, cooked in a hole in the ground beneath the fire, and\nencased in a thick coating of mud. I have never tasted venison that\ncould compare with the haunch of that young wapiti. As we could\nnot take all of the meat with us, as we were already pretty well loaded,\nwe hung part of the carcase on a tree a short distance from the trail,\nhoping to be back at this place on our return journey before the meat\nspoiled.\n\"We started on the trail again shortly after dinner, our road\nleading us round the shore of the lake, which was everywhere marked\nwith the footprints of wapiti (elk), deer, wolves, and occasionally\nthose of the black bear. This lake was evidently the drinking place\nof the wild animals of that part of the island. After leaving the lake\nthe trail became tortuous, and unnecessarily so, like most of the Siwash trails. A native will walk yards out of the direct route to avoid\nsome small obstacle which we could remove with a little labor.\nDarkness overtook, us at the foot of the last mountain trail we\nwere to climb, before we might look down upon the waters of the\nwestern coast. Here we again camped for the night, but before turning into my blankets I put two men on watch, to be relieved after\nfour hours by two others. This I thought to be necessary in case\nsome wandering natives might be in the vicinity. Taking up the\ntrail next morning shortly after daybreak, we arrived at the summit\n45 about noon, and from this point we had a fine view of the west coast\nand of Barclay Sound. On the summit we cached some more of our\nprovisions, and we had a very steep and difficult descent to make,\nwhich would be made dangerous with heavy packs upon our backs.\nThe gifts intended for the natives we of course took with us to propitiate any tribes with whom we might come in contact. It was to\nthe interests of the great company we had to look, and a friendly attitude on the part of all natives was of the first importance in obtaining\ntheir furs, and their trade. We were told that the majority of the\nnatives of Barclay Sound had never seen a white man, and consequently they might be difficult to approach, or even hostile, unless we\nsucceeded in gaining their confidence and friendship. I shall never\nforget that trail down the mountain side. It was so exceedingly\nsteep in places that we could only descend by hanging on to the brush\nwhich skirted the trail, and letting ourselves down. The trail at the\nfoot of the mountain led directly to the salt water, and our arrival\nthere was productive of great excitement among the Indians. We\nheard shouting in the timber, and the savages calling to one another\nin that weird and abrupt cadence so peculiar to the Indians of British\nColumbia. We could see none of them, but that they were within\neasy bow-shot was evidenced by the flight of an arrow which found a\nresting place in the bark of a Douglas fir, not far from my head. Cote,\nwho was walking a few feet in my rear, advised me to keep more within the timber, where I would be safe from flying arrows, or other\nmissiles. I recognized the value of his advice by complying with his\nsuggestion. The shouting now seemed to come from the other side\nof a narrow canal, and presently two Indians appeared on the opposite bank, shouting, gesticulating and brandishing some weapons which\nthey held in their hands. The interpreter, Lafromboise, attempted to\nhold some conversation with them, but the attempt was a failure.\n\"Taking off my pack, and filling my canvas bag with knick-\nknacks and biscuit (hard-tack), I advanced along the water's edge,\nin the hope of obtaining some means of crossing to the opposite side.\nAfter walking a short distance we found a canoe on the bank. We\nthen pantomimed to the savages our intention of crossing over, to\nwhich they showed strenuous objection, but after a little over half\nan hour's pantomiming with our hands and arms they finally consented. There were no paddles in the canoe, but Cote went into the\nbush and returned with a branch of a fir tree, with which by vigorous\nuse he propelled the canoe to the opposite bank. On our advancing\ntowards them the two natives, and many others who had joined them,\nretreated with threatening gestures. One, however, stood his ground,\n46 but showing some timidity I thought it advisable to try the effect oi\nsome of my knick-knacks. I accordingly drew from my bag some\nsmall looking-glasses, and threw one towards him, as well as a one-\nbladed knife. These laid for some time on the ground before he\nwould touch them. He finally took up the small mirror and gave vent\nto some grunts of satisfaction which brought the others from the timber, where they had been concealed. Taking nip the one-bladed knife,\nwhich I had opened before throwing it to him, he appeared to know its\nuse, and they were all pleased with it, and made signs for more.\n\"Taking some biscuits from my sack, I threw one in the direction\nof an Indian who appeared to have some authority, and taking another\nI put it in my mouth and bit off a chunk, which I commenced to chew.\nBut he looked at his buscuit, and would not touch it, and after I had\neaten half the one in my hand he motioned to me to throw it to him,\nwhich I did. Biting a piece off, he chewed it, and seemed highly\npleased with its taste. Taking some more from my bag I advanced\nand he stood his ground. I then offered him some of those just taken\nfrom my bag, but he would only eat them after I had eaten a piece of\nthem myself. Many more natives coming up, they asked me for biscuits, mirrors and knives. I gave them all I had with me, but I was\njoined shortly after by the remaining members of my party who had\nbeen ferried over by Cote, while I was going through a pantomime\nwith the natives. The most of these natives were completely naked,\nbut some had coverings made from the inner bark of the cedar tree.\nThe interpreter then asked in a loud voice if there were any of the\nIndians who spoke the Songhee tongue, when a young man who\nappeared to be about 18 years of age stepped forward and said he\ncould speak the language. He explained that he was a Songhee and\ncaptured when a boy had been living with these Indians ever\nsince. He told us that we were the first strangers they had ever\nseen, and they were afraid. The Indian who appeared to be the chief,\ninvited us to visit his rancherie. We walked down with them after\nsending one of my men back for a Hudson's Bay blanket. The rancheria was situated some distance from the salt water canal. As we\napproached this large structure Cote objected to my entering the\nbuilding. He said the Indians were already showing signs of becoming troublesome, by trying to steal from the supply bag and jostling\nsome of the party.\n\"We were all well armed, but I wished to avoid trouble in the\ninterests of the Company. The interpreter told the Songhee to ask\nthe chief to make his people behave themselves or there would be\ntrouble, which he did, as the chief addressed the natives, and they fell\n47 back a little from about us. I was suspicious, however, of the chief's\nintentions, and refused to enter the rancherie, although pressed to do\nso.\nThe blanket in the meantime had arrived, and I presented it to the\nchief with much ceremony. He was highly pleased with it, and in return he gave me two otter skins, which he had intended trading with\nthe Indians on the outer coast.\nI then explained to him that the blanket was a present from the\nCompany, who had trading posts at different places in Briish Columbia, and that the Company would be glad if he took any furs they\ncaught to these posts and be well paid for them. The young Songhee\nthen asked if we could get him his freedom to return with us to his people at Fort Victoria. Before making any proposition in connection with\nhim we distributed a few of the mirrors and knives. I was on the\npoint of returning to the foot of the trail, where we intended camping\nfor the night and leaving early in the morning. It was now close to\n4 o'clock in the afternoon, and it was necessary that the men should\nhave their supper, as they had had nothing to eat at noon. Taking\nthe chief on one side, I explained by signs that I would give him two\nblankets in exchange for the boy. At first he refused, but at last he\nconsented. Not wishing him to see what goods we had with us, I\ntold him to come to the foot of the trail in the evening, and bring the\nyoung man with him. We were glad to leave this tribe, and make\nall haste to a place at the foot of the trail which I had noted in the\nmorning as offering a good site for a camp, if I returned that day.\nWhile they were preparing a camp and getting supper, I took Cote\nand Lafromboise with me, and walked down a couple of miles to salt\nwater. Here I saw a native fishing, but I did not leave the protection\nof the timber, as I was interested in his peculiar method of spearing\ncod-fish. This man had a wooden block carved into the shape of a\nboy's spinning top, and adorned with a circlet of feathers.\nThis shuttlecock, for it closely resembled one, he placed at the end\nof a pronged spear, and pushed it far down into the water. Then\nstanding over it he withdrew the spear and allowed it to come slowly\nupwards in front of the shuttle. This was evidently a bait, for a few\nmoments after withdrawing the spear he plunged it quickly downwards again, and then withdrew it with a struggling grey cod on its\nextremity. After watching the man for some time I came out of the\ntimber, whereupon the Indian paddled off with great shouts of fear\ntowards the rancherie. When I came back to camp the supper was\nready, and while disposing of it, the Indian chief or headman came\nin, accompanied by the young Songhee. Then another blanket was\n48 asked for, in exchange for the Songhee's liberty, in rather an imperious manner. This I 'point blank refused to give him, and he was about\nto take the boy back with him, when Cote took the boy by the shoulders, and pushed him among our men, at the same time throwing the\ntwo blankets at the chief, and motioning him to take himself off. He\nleft us in high dudgeon, and we were told by the boy that he would\nreturn with more of his tribe and kill us all. As I said before, we had\nan excellent place for a camp, and we immediately began to prepare\nfor eventualities. In about half an hour's time we heard shouting\nthroughout the timber, and we saw the chief with a considerable number of men returning to retake the boy and punish us. We lay concealed in the brush and the natives halted, and one man shot an arrow,\nwhich passed over our heads. Cote, who was on one side of the trail,\nthen arose with his rough shirt tied over his head and fired his musket\nin the air. This appeared to throw the Indians into a panic. They\nfled in dismay, headed by the chief, who, to expedite his movements,\nleft his blanket which I had given him in the morning, on a bush. For\nsanitary reasons we left it there and then got everything ready for an\nearly start. Night came down upon us shortly after and we turned\ninto our blankets, with Cote and the Iroquois as night watches. We\nleft next morning just before day break, and gained the summit, where\nwe had breakfast. Just as we were about to take the trail again we\nsaw some of the Indians dodging along the road which led to our\ncamp, unaware that we had left. We had a much easier tramp towards the lake. It was down-hill, and when dusk overtook us we\nwent into camp. Next day we reached the lake about noon. We\nfound our venison where we had left it, but the ground beneath showed unmistakable signs of wolves having been there in force. I forgot\nto mention that at the summit we found our cache of supplies intact,\nwith no evidence that any animal or human being had been in the\nneighborhood.\nWe stayed at the lake until early next morning. Here some of\nour party shot some mallards and teal, as well as a few grouse. We\nmade our camp close to the shore and built a large fire to keep off the\nwolves which were howling all around us. It was impossible to\ntell their number, as two wolves will make noise enough for a pack.\nOur old friends, the owls, were also present, in good voice. After a\nnoisy night we made preparations next morning to return by way of\nthe Qualicum, if the route proved safe. Before starting I directed one\nof the men to try and get some meat for our return journey. He had\nnot left the camp more than a few minutes when we heard his musket,\nand in the course of twenty minutes he returned with a fine yearling\n49 buck. It was dressed when brought into camp, so that all that had to\nbe done was to divide it into quarters, of which we took the best, and\nleft the rest for wild animals to feed on. Just before we left this\ncamp we saw a large cougar, or panther, jump from a tree, almost\nabove our heads, and in a few leaps disappear in the forest.\nWe started for the coast about seven o'clock. When about, as\nwe thought, one mile from the mouth of the Qualicum, we halted, and\nI sent the Iroquois forward to ascertain whether any Indians were at\nthe scene of the late massacre, and then to come back and report. We\ndid not care about repeating the tramp we made through the bush on\nour westward journey. He returned in a little over half an hour and\nreported that we were only half a mile from the late rancherie, and it\nappeared as though no person had been there since our last visit.\nThis was good news. He also reported that he saw no canoes i i the\ngulf. We therefore continued our tramp in the direction of the late\nabode of the Qualicums. On our arrival there we found the buildings\nstill burning, but the headless bodies of the dead had been partly devoured by wild animals. There was nothing to claim our attention\nso after a few moments spent in examining the place we walked\ndown the beach to where we had cached some of our supplies. We\nfound these in the same condition as we had left them, and after hunting up the canoe, which had been undisturbed, we set out for Fort\nVictoria. During the course of the second afternoon of our journey\nsouthward, we turned into the mouth of the Nanaimo River, and were\naccorded a very friendly reception by the Nanaimo Indians. Here we\nsaw a very interesting method of killing ducks and geese. At the\nmouth of the river is a large flat piece of swampy land much frequent^\ned by waterfowl. Sometimes they congregate here in thousands,\nmore especially in the early months of the year. I asked the chief to\nhave supper with us, after which he accompanied us to the flats I have\nmentioned. About the middle of this flat and cutting it in two are a\nseries of posts about twenty feet in height and forty feet apart.\nStretched between the posts was a large and extensive net. At dusk\nwhen the flats are covered with waterfowl the Indians frighten them,\nand rising in a large body with necks extended these waterfowl circle\nround, and without seeing the net they push their necks through the\nmesh and fall back with broken vertebrae, but retained in a hanging\nposition until removed. Stray flights of waterfowl are caught in the\nnight when the Indian is asleep within his dwelling.\nOn the second day after my visit to the Nanaimos I arrived with\nmy party at Victoria, and received the commendations of the chief\nfactor.\n50 NED STOUT\nA PIONEER OF '58.\nThere are few of the \"old timers\" better known to British Columbians, than Net Stout, of Yale, and none, certainly, can tell a more\ninteresting story than this sturdy old pioneer.\nI had heard his name mentioned as that of a miner who had come\nto the Fraser River, in the van of the \"first rush.\" His experiences\nwith the Thompson tribe of Indians, as told to me, were so enthralling\nas to warrant my visiting Yale, where he had his home, to obtain his\nstory at first hand.\nOn arriving there I had no difficulty in finding his house, which\nwas situated a short distance from the railway station. Knocking at\nthe door, I was admitted by Ned himself, and after mentioning my\n51 name I was invited to take a seat. In reply to his question, I stated\nI was a brother of the late Mr. Justice Walkem, which appeared to\nplease him greatly. Mr. Stout said he knew Mr. Walkem well when\nhe was member for Cariboo, and Premier of the Province, and had\nvoted for him on every occasion on which he had been a candidate for\nthe legislature.\nAfter explaining the object of my visit, he at once put my mind at\nease by inviting me into a room provided with a table and chairs, and\nstating that he would willingly tell me the story of his early experiences in search of gold.\n\"Those were stirring and eventful periods in the history of my\nlife,\" said Ned, \"filled with episodes which are indelibly fixed upon my\nmemory.\"\n\"There are only a few of us left, doctor, time is fast thinning out\nour ranks, but I may say that of those who came to the country with\nme, only four out of the twenty-six survived the war with the Indians\non the Fraser River. I have heard of some who claim to have gone\nthrough that war, but any stories which they may have to tell in this\nrespect must be taken with a great deal of salt.\"\nMr. Stout is a gentleman who probably would measure five feet\nsix or seven in height. Though stout by name, he is almost the opposite in the flesh. His face is a very pleasing one, as though the\nowner was possessed of an excellent temper, while his lips and jaw tell\nof an iron will to attempt, and carry out, if possible, any enterprise or\nproject upon which he has set his mind. His moustache is grey, but\nnot white, and a small pointed beard, of the same color, covered a\nsquare, well-formed lower jaw. His eyes are light in color, and his\nnose is decidedly aquiline. His movements would lead one to believe\nthat he was a much younger man that his stated age. On his arms\nare the evidences of the strenuous times of those early days, in which\nall, but three or four of their party escaped alive from the attacks of\nthe blood-thirsty savages. His groin bears witness, in a large puckered scar, to where a musket ball entered, fired from one of the old\nmuskets supplied by the Hudson's Bay Company to the natives to\nhunt game with. This wound nearly terminated his existence, and I\nbelieve that if it had not been for his magnificent recuperative powers,\nand his careful manner of living he would have succumbed to the\ndangerous wound. His arms and body are literally covered with the\nscars of arrow wounds. There are over forty of these plainly to be\nseen. These scars are not confined to any particular part of his body,\nbut are to be found everywhere an arrow could find a place for entry.\nWhen his arms are exposed, you do not see a limb of massive propor-\n52 tions, but one in which the muscles stand out like whipcords, and\neloquently speak of great strength and wiry endurance.\n\"I was born,\" said Mr. Edwin Stout, \"in Germany, in 1827, but\ncame to America, landing in New York in 1846. From there I proceeded to Milwaukee, where I obtained employment on a schooner, on\nwhich I sailed Lake Michigan for over a year. On this schooner I\nvisited nearly every port on the lake from Chicago at the southern\nend of it, to the Canadian frontier line in the northern end. In the\nspring of 1848 I moved to Council Bluffs.\n\"I stayed with the Mormons, who were a thrifty and industrious\npeople, until the spring of 1849, when I joined a cattle drover, who\nwas driving a band of cattle in connection with some immigrant\nwagons across the plains to California. It was a long, but at that\nseason of the year, a pleasant journey. I can remember it most distinctly. We passed over a beautiful country literally swarming with\nbuffalo, elk and other deer, as well as antelopes. We travelled by\nway of the North Platte, Salt Lake City, Laramie, Bear River, the\nLittle Desert, the Big Desert, and passed where the Humbolt disappears from sight in the bowels of the earth. Then we crossed the\nSierra Nevada Mountains and arrived in \"Hangtown,\" or Placerville,\nas it was afterwards called, in the month of November, 1849. I may\nrightfully be called one of the forty-niners of California. To be a\nforty-niner of California and a fifty-eighter of the Fraser River is\nvery exceptional, and I should say that the number of such men living\nat the present time, might be counted on the fingers of one hand. This\nvillage, or town, derived its name of \"Hangtown\" from the number of\ndesperadoes who were hanged within its boundaries by the Vigilance\nCommittee. In the centre of the town was an oak tree, with large,\nthick and widespreading branches. One could count the number of\nhangings that had been carried out by the number of rings on the\nbranches of the tree, just as you can tell the age of some trees by the\nnumber of circles or rings which can be counted within the bark when\nthe tree is felled to the ground. Every time the rope from which the\ncriminal was pendent was thrown over the branch and drawn into the\nair, the friction removed some of the bark in a circular manner and\nleft its count.\n\"About twenty-five or twenty-six of our party engaged in mining\nin various creeks and streams of California. The last place we tried\nour luck was in Georgetown, El Dorado County. Among those who\nwere with me then and afterwards accompanied me to this Province\nwere Alexander Coultee, of the Nicola Valley, now deceased, and\nJohn O. , of Yale. We crossed the plains together.\n53 \"In 1857 rumors of rich diggings on the Fraser River were going\nthe rounds of the mining camps of California, and these rumors did not\nlose anything in the description of the richness of the new finds by\ntheir repetition. These reports produced intense excitement, and we,\nlike a great many more, we struck by an intense attack of Fraser\nRiver gold fever. We made up our minds to seek out the new El\nDorado without loss of time, so we hunted round for some kind of\ntransportation and we finally succeeded in obtaining a schooner to\ntake us there. We made a bargain with the captain and owner to\ntake us to Bellingham Bay for $2,000, including the carriage of our\nsupplies and a sufficiency of timber to build two large boats with.\nThere were twenty-six of us all told. We would have cleared for Victoria, V. I., but it was not a port of entry, so we had to clear for Bellingham Bay instead. In the schooner we put a good stock of supplies, and what lumber we thought we would require. We started\nfrom San Francisco, California, and arrived, after a medium passage,\nin Bellingham Bay, in March, 1858. We were the only vessel in that\nspacious harbor. Whatcom, at that time, consisted of two or three\nhouses, or cabins. With the lumber we brought with us we constructed two good, large flat bottomed boats. They were easily\nhandled and carried with comfort a large amount of freight, as well as\nourselves. We arrived at Canoe Pass on May 2, 1858. When we\narrived on the Fraser River there was not a living soul to be seen.\nWe did not even see the mark of an axe on any of the timber. We\npassed up to what is now known as Langley. At Fort Langley we\nsaw one white man, a Hudson's Bay employe, and at Fort Hope we\nsaw only two. After a long struggle of eighteen days we arrived\nopposite the present town of Yale. Of course it had no name at that\ntime. You will naturally enquire as to whether we saw those who\nhad been mining there, for it was at Yale where they found their first\npay dirt. Well, the history of the original claim strikers is a very sad\none. Old Chief Jim, whose rancherie was on the opposite side of the\nriver, told us that the previous year two strange white men made their\nappearance on the river from the direction of Fort Langley, and employed Jim to work for them. They went across the river and sunk\ntwo holes, and after washing a lot of dirt appeared to be very happy.\nThey got quite a large amount of gold. After a while they ran out of\nsupplies and then started out for Port Townsend to obtain some more.\nOn passing Bellingham they told of their great luck, and they mentioned their wonderful success at Port Townsend as well. Then they\nwent on to Seattle and repeated to the inhabitants of that city the\nstory of what they had struck on the Fraser, and showed their gold.\n54 After getting a year's supplies they started out to return to their\nclaim, but on reaching the upper end of Lulu Island they were suddenly attacked by a band of Squamish Indians from the North Arm of the\nFraser, and murdered. Their vessel was looted of everything of value\nand then burned. Jim said we were the first who had appeared since\nthe two original miners had disappeared. I asked him if he knew\ntheir names. He replied that he only knew that one of them was\ncalled Charlie. They told him when they left that they would soon\nreturn, and that by and by there would be crowds of white men on\nthe river.\n\"We now made arrangements to start mining. The first thing\nwe did was to elect officers to see that everything was carried out in\na proper manner. It was necessary to do so where there were twenty-\nsix men to manage and in one company. Our officers were as follows :\n\"Chief, or foreman, John McLennan.\n\"Assistant Chief, Archie McDonald.\n\"Two under officers, two ex-Texas rangers.\n\"Poor Jack McLennan, a really good fellow, was subsequently\nkilled by the Indians. After we had been prospecting for some weeks\nJack McLennan called us together one day and .said : 'Boys, we have\nbeen, working here for some time, and have found nothing but fine\ngold, and in California we have been accustomed to coarse gold. Let\nus pull our stakes and go right up the country, and try to find out\nwhere this gold comes from. It comes from somewhere, and if we j\ncan find that 'somewhere' we may discover some valuable placer mines.\nIf we fail in finding what we are in search of, we will return to California.\" To this we all agreed. In the meantime during the week we\nhad been working men were pouring in by the hundreds, so that when\nwe left we had no fear of Indians murdering the two men we were\nleaving in charge of the two boats, and some supplies, to be used on\nour return or forwarded to us in case we made a strike.\n\"Just about this time the Hudson's Bay Company attempted to\nestablish a post or fort at Yale. In fact, they did establish one, and\nMr. Ellard, the chief factor at Fort Hope, called the post Fort Yale,\nbut through some misunderstanding with the natives they were compelled to abandon their project until after the signing of the peace\nagreement after the Fraser River Indian war, when they established\nthe post.\n\"In accordance with the suggestion of our foreman, Jack McLennan, we took up our packs, quitted the scene of our three weeks'\nwork, and started out to ascend the Fraser River. First we made for\nthe mountains, and I can tell you there was no trail, or sign of a trail\n55 on which to travel. We left Yale on June 2, 1858, and in making our\nway through the timber we had the hardest kind of a time. Sometimes\nwe had to use the axe, for it was impossible to make headway without its assistance. We never had a glimpse of the sun except when\nit was almost overhead. When lying on our backs at night, listening\nto the racoons quarreling among themselves, we could discern some\nstars through the tops of the giant trees. At last, after herculean\nefforts, we succeeded in making our way through the big canyon, and\nreaching the forks of a large river which met the one whose banks we\nhad been skirting. This was what is now known as the present town\nsite of Lytton. The mainland of the colony was known to us as New-\nCaledonia, and a Scotchman of our party on reaching this point, extended his arm in a most dramatic fashion, and said : 'This is Queen\nVictoria's New Caledonian Land. Oh, Mighty Mountains, what may\nbe behind you?' We were to find out, alas! to our cost! Leaving the\nforks of the river, we ascended the Thompson, prospecting all the way\nuntil we reached Nicomen, now called Thompson's Siding, where we\nstruck some gold, but not sufficiently rich to justify our staying there.\nWe once more started out in search of something better, and arrived\nat the mouth of the Nicola River, on June 14, 1858. From this point\nwe started out in an east and southeast direction, prospecting the\nmountains in search of a placer mine, but found none. Then we returned to Nicomen, and resumed mining, where we had left off previously. We stayed with it until the middle of July, when something\noccurred which led up to our leaving a number of our men dead upon\nthe trail.\nAs we progressed through the country we came across several\nsmall bands of Indians of the Thompson tribe. An innocent and good\nlooking woman child of the forest, had formed a strong attachment for\nour foreman, Jack McLennan. When we first met her she was practically naked, and Jack out of pure good nature and compassion for\nher nude condition, had given her sundry shirts and trousers to cover\nher nakedness. She, in return, had fawned on him like a dog does on\nhis master. She followed him about, working for him, insisting on\ncarrying his pack, and otherwise showing in her childish innocent way\nher strong love and affection for him. She was in love with Jack, but\nbeyond having a natural pity for the woman, I do not think he reciprocated her love. At night she usually stopped with some member\nof her tribe, who followed in our trail.\n\"One night\u00E2\u0080\u0094it must have been close on midnight, and many of us\nwere still sitting in front of the blazing log fire\u00E2\u0080\u0094this woman suddenly\nappeared, and placing her finger on her lip, as she walked to take a seat\n56 close to Jack, said in a very low and subdued voice, 'Hist!' Taking\nher seat upon a fallen tree, she stated gloomily, if not sadly, into the\nfire. Cautioning silence, Jack said to us : 'Boys, something serious has\nhappened or is going to happen which concerns us all. This woman\nwould not have come here tonight unless she had something important\nto tell us. Let no man speak, but let us wait until she is ready to tell\nus what it is.' The woman in the meantime still kept her eyes fixed\nupon the blazing logs. Twice she made a move as though to speak.\nAt last, in a most intensely sad tone of voice she said : 'Before sun\nup you white men go. Go back in the stick, far, far, then you back to\nsalt chuck (water). Indian kill all white men in canyon, by-by he\ncome kill you all. Tomorrow he come. Go now, go quick,' and rising\nfrom the log she disappeared as suddenly as she had come. We understood her warning to mean that the Indians below were killing all\nthe white men, and had killed all those in the big canyon, and if we\ndid not get far back in the bush and work our way back to salt water\nwe would be surrounded on the morrow and killed. We determined\nto take the trail without loss of time. It was fair travelling where\nwe were, and there was a bright new moon to light our way.\n\"Carefully putting out our fires we struck into the thickest portions of the timber and travelled until daylight, when we lay down for\nrest and repose. We were now divested of everything that would\nencumber our rapid flight to the lower reaches of the Fraser. We had\nthrown away everything but our guns and ammunition, as well as a\nblanket apiece, but we kept some jerked venison as the best and most\neasily carried of our supplies. After a short rest we struck across into\nthe hills until we reached Jackass Mountain near the Fraser River.\nWhile we were in the act of walking from a little bench below Jackass\nMountain to another bench, the Indians, who were concealed in the\nbrush, suddenly fired on us from above. They were hidden among\nsome rocks and brush on the mountain side. Three of our men were\nwounded, and as the arrows were poisoned, they died next da)', after\nseveral attacks of convulsions. At death the poor fellows turned\nblack. The poison with which they anoint the tips of the arrows is\nmade as follows : Some teeth or fangs from the rattlesnake are placed\nin a sort of mortar, with some deer's blood and are rubbed up together.\nSufficient moisture is added if necessary, to make it possible to anoint\nthe tips of the arrows. To prevent the Indians from robbing the dead\nof their clothing or other belongings, we pushed the bodies of our late\ncomrades into the Fraser, and they were soon carried out of sight.\n\"As it was extremely dangerous to travel by day, we made our\nway in the night time. As soon as the day broke we built small forts\n57 upon the bank of the river with stones and pieces of timber. Detached\nparties of Indians often hemmed us in, skulking behind low bushes,\nwhile occasionally some of them would send a chance musket ball\nwhistling across the rocks with savage interest. Our arsenal consisted of twelve double-barrelled shotguns and six Kentucky rifles, and\nseveral large horse pistols. We lost a man nearly every day; Jack\nMcLennan was one of these, and at Slaughter Bar we lost six of our\ncomrades. This Slaughter Bar was between Boston Bar and Jackass\nMountain. Opposite Keefers we made an attack on their caches\nwhich contained all their dried salmon and berry cakes, and burned\nthe rancherie as well. When we arrived at Ten-Mile Creek the Indians tried to head us off, but we set fire to the bush about 2 o'clock\nat night and retired into the darkness. The light of our bush fire\nexposed the Indians who were lying waiting for us on the opposite\nbank, and they were all killed off by the fire of the heavy Kentucky\nrifles. All of our men were expert shots. At Four-Mile Creek they\nhad hung four poisoned salmon on a pole, expecting that we would\neat them. Mike Mallahan, an Irishman who was with us, when we\napproached the salmon, pointed to some blue jays lying dead beneath\nthe salmon. He warned us not to touch the fish as they were undoubtedly poisoned. The dead jays were good evidence of this. We\nthrew down the pole, and after reducing the salmon to small pieces,\npitched them in the river. We next descended to Boston Bar, and\ncrossed Anderson River on a natural bridge made from driftwood,\njammed tight in the narrow space. Then we made our way round\nChina Bar Mountain to China Bar, where we built a fort. There were\nonly five of us now left. The rifles were no longer of any use to us\nas we had no ammunition to suit them. We broke them to pieces and\nthrew them in the river. Every one of us was wounded, and as we\nwere unable to travel we laid behind our fortifications, expecting to\nbe attacked at any moment, but we were relieved by Capt. Snider and\nhis company on the following day. If he had not come when he did\nI would not be here today to recount to you the story of our rescue.\n\"I have said little of the privations of that trip. Let me tell you\nthat our sufferings from many causes were terrible. The total number\nof whites who were murdered by the savages will never be known.\nCapt. Snider took out of the water at Yale ten dead whites ; at Dead-\nman's Bend on the opposite shore they took out nineteen, and the Hudson's Bay Company at Hope took out thirty-two. Of those who were\nmurdered all of them had their heads and arms cut off, while those\nwho were killed otherwise were not mutilated, but simply had arrows\nsticking in their bodies. Some of the corpses found their way to the\n58 ocean. A doctor had been sent up to attend those who might be\nwounded, and as I was not able to move, from a dangerous wound in\nthe groin, the doctor stayed with us, and to him I am indebted for my\nbeing here today. Leaving us Capt. Graham, an American Scotchman, took the route over the mountains, while Capt. Snider kept\nstraight on. At Spuzzum they met, and were joined by Yates and\nEllard of the Hudson's Bay Company. These officials had paraded\nall of the Indians in the vicinity with white flags in their hands. They\naddressed the Indians and told them they must not kill any more\nwhites.\n'\"To h\u00E2\u0080\u009411 with those flags,' said Graham, 'we are here to find out\nand kill those who are responsible for the dead bodies which are to be\nseen floating daily down the river.'\n\"On the way up Snider and Graham had come across the following\ndead and missing people of and from their several claims. At Rocky\nBar, one mile above what is now known as Camp 16, on the opposite\nside of the river, they found seventeen Scotchmen and one American\ndead, and their heads and arms cut off. At a spot corresponding to\nwhere the Spuzzum bridge now stands, or stood, some Germans and\nmany of