THE JOURNEY NORTH 7

“ River, the fire is still burning fiercely. We called at
“‘Campbell River and several anglers went ashore. I
‘heard many big fish had been caught since our depar-
“ture. We continue northwards with Vancouver Island
“on our left hand. The tide is running against us with
“‘sreat force, so we are making comparatively little
“headway. We are passing through a narrow sound,
‘and I can see thesalmon leaping in thousands over in a
“little bay, where a small creek flows out. They are
“evidently waiting for high tide to ascend the creek.

“On the mainland side we often pass long narrow
‘“fiords, which seem to cut right into the heart of the
“Cascade mountains, whose peaks are visible now and
“then.

““ Everywhere the landscape looks desolate and bare
‘‘of human beings, with the exception of an occasional
“camp of lumbermen with the typical ‘slashings’ or
“razed areas of forest all around, or some forest fire
“going full blast, all testifying to the devastation
“wrought by man.”

Towards evening we reached Alert Bay, a small.
Indian village with a few white-man’s habitations
here and there and a salmon cannery. The houses
stand in a row facing the sea and with a small lane in
front. Down by the sea-board is a row of boat houses,
where the Indians store their long war canoes, and here
the family spends the evenings and their leisure time
Wrapped up in red Hudson’s Bay blankets, haughtily
watching us tourists.

At Alert Bay there is a choice collection of most
interesting Totempoles in front of the Indian houses,
and the many beautifully-made canoes testify to a
very highly developed boat-building craft. Some of

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