CHAPTER II

THE JOURNEY NORTH

AT length, towards the middle of August, I had to
return to Vancouver to make my final preparations
for the trip to the north.

During my absence Mr. Williams had ordered a
small tent and certain other things for me, and with
some old shooting togs and some of the heavy woollen
underwear used by prospectors and hunters, my outfit
was soon complete. I was to get all my provisions
from the trader in Telegraph Creek, but I succeeded
in unearthing a bottle of real Norwegian “Aquavit”
in a shop on the waterfront.

Acting on Mr. Williams’ advice, I did not take along
a sleeping bag, but bought a large four-point woollen
Hudson’s Bay blanket, which, though very warm, was
extremely heavy, and later on, when I got amongst the
mountains and experienced cold, wintry weather, I
often had cause to miss the light but warm sleeping
bag I had been using the preceding winter down in
Patagonia in South America.

My armament consisted of a single shot Falling
Block rifle, chambered for the English military .303
cartridge, and a so-called Ball and Shot gun of 28 bore.
This useful weapon was really a double-barrelled shot
gun with the muzzles rifled for a short distance for ball.
It shot extremely well with a special copper-capped
bullet, and made a fairly good pattern with small shot.

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