Tue Great JouRNEY 89

The worst of their troubles were over for
the moment. The river was swift, but
smooth. The weather, however, was so cold
that the men had to wear blanket coats even
in the heat of the day. They were passing
through the main chain of the Rockies, but
they met with only a few rapids, of no great
difficulty. On the 29th violent rain pre-
vented movement, and Mackenzie amused
himself by writing an account of their journey
and sending it down the current in an empty
rum-keg. On the 31st they passed beneath
the shadow of Mount Selwyn, over six thou-
sand feet high, at the western end of the pass;
soon after they ascended the Finlay Rapids
without trouble, and arrived at the Forks. It
had taken them twenty-three days to go
two hundred and fifty miles, whereas on the
whole Arctic voyage the average rate of prog-
ress had been nearly thirty miles a day.

At the Forks the Finlay, flowing from the
north-west, meets the Parsnip, flowing from
the south-east, and their waters unite to form
the Peace. Mackenzie’s own instinct was to
go up the Finlay, which appeared to be the