Over the Divide : 157

in a second location two bags of Indian corn, and a bale
of different articles of merchandise.

Near the end of the trail the canoe was hidden on a staging
and carefully protected from the sun by a thick covering of
leafy branches, while the remainder of their stores which
had to be left behind were cached in a hollow square of green
logs, which was then covered with heavy timbers.

The party of ten carried four bags of pemmican of the
usual weight of ninety pounds, a case of instruments, a
ninety-pound parcel of goods for presents, and another
ninety-pound pack of ammunition. To this weight must
be added the guns, hangars, pistols, telescope, and extra
clothes, making a total of more than 750 pounds to be divided
among the members of the party. Each of the two Indians
had his gun and trifles, and forty-five pounds of pemmican,
which thoroughly disgusted them, and they would have
instantly left if they had dared. ‘Vhe leader and his second
each carried about seventy pounds, while each of the
Canadians had a burden in the neighbourhood of one hundred
pounds, including a gun and some ammunition.

Mackenzie thought that the distance would be between
five and six degrees of longitude, which would mean about
250 miles in a direct line, and nearly three hundred by trail.
Whether the remainder of the party knew what was before
them is not stated. However, the actual distance to salt
water was less than that.! It will be admitted that this over-
land trip was a formidable undertaking, particularly for men
more accustomed to river navigation and short “carries”
than to land expeditions on foot over several hundred miles
of wild western country. Even with these loads they could
not expect more than two meals a day.

1 To ‘‘Mackenzie’s Rock” four and a half degrees, and to the end
of the trail on Bella Coola River, three and a half.