112 Sir ALEXANDER MACKENZIE

without fear the amazing spectacle of a party
of white men in the heart of a region still
very rarely crossed. At last they consented
to become his guides.

With confidence restored, they pushed on
next day over a hill which divides the head-
waters of the Blackwater and the Nechako
Rivers, past Gatcho Lake, where they exam-
ined a very neat and well-made dwelling, and
then, turning south, across the Dean River on
the Pacific slope. On the 15th they fell in
with a party of Indians “‘of a very pleasing
aspect” carrying furs to barter with the coast
tribes. Before them lay a range of snow-clad
mountains (the Tsi-Tsutl Mts.), across which
they had to go to reach the valley of the
Bella Coola River, which was to take them to
the sea. On the 17th they gained the summit,
a high snow-filled pass, in extreme cold. They
were able to see a large village in the valley
far below them, but the descent was steep
and long, and night came before they could
reach it. Stumbling down through thick
woods, they arrived in pitch darkness at a
cluster of houses. Mackenzie entered one,