Rapids are about 1,000 feet long and are occasioned by a nearly horizontal bed of
sandstone outcropping across the bed of the river, over which, for the greater width,
the water flows in a thin sheet, forming a fall of about 4 feet. Towards the north
side the sandstone has been broken away, and most of the water flows to this side,
forming a width of about 100 feet; short, but very rough rapids. The approach,
coming down-stream, is somewhat treacherous, as the channel from above appears
smooth to the south side of the river, and the rapids, true to their name—Rapide-
qui-ne-parle-pas, “ Rapid that does not speak ’”’—give no warning of their proximity.

Below the Parle Pas Rapids the Peace River is very tortuous, flowing with an
unbroken surface at the rate of three or four miles an hour. The width remains,
on the average, about 500 feet, and the valley between the hills widens to two or
three miles, the interval being composed of gravel, sand, and clay benches, with
valleys of some length and width between the side-hills. These river benches and
valleys are, on the north side of the river, nearly destitute of trees and covered with
a species of bunch-grass. The south side presents an almost unbroken forest of
small spruce.

From Finlay Junction to the Rocky Mountain Canyon there is no commercial
timber of great value. The mountains on either side to the Ottertail are generally
practically bare, containing only scattered patches of spruce, short and limby. The
Wicked River contains about six miles of green spruce about a quarter of a mile
wide, the Clearwater*some heavy spruce, and the Ottertail a narrow strip of young
spruce half a mile wide for ten miles. Schooner Creek has a body of young timber
seven miles in length by half a mile wide, and on the Carbon River are at least
fifty sections of spruce, much of which would be utilized when the development of
the coal-areas there is begun. From Carbon River to Rocky Mountain Canyon the
flats on either side of the Peace are covered with a light growth of pine and spruce.
not a merchantable growth.

“PORTAGE OF THE MOUNTAIN OF ROCKS.”

The “ Portage of the Mountain of Rocks,” leading around the Rocky Mountain
Canyon, is reached after about five hours’ travel by boat down-stream fron: the Parle
Pas Rapids. The elevation at the west end of the portage is 1,792 feet above sea-
level. The portage cuts over a shoulder of a rocky hill, with altitude of 4,000 fect,
formed at the bend of the river. For thirty miles the river is here confined in
eanyon and is not navigable. It flows in a series of rapids and falls hetween perpen-
dicular and often overhanging walls of sandstone, the vertical drop in the canyon
being about 275 feet. The portage is fourteen miles long from the old Fludson‘’s Bay
Post at Rocky Mountain Portage to the post now occupied at Hudscn Hope. ‘The
canyon contracts the river to a width of not over 150 feet. Coal has been found on
the south side. 2

HUDSON HOPE.

Hudson Hope, at the lower end of the canyon, is the head of navigation up the
Peace River. The settlement is located at the end of the portage trail. The
Hudson’s Bay Company’s Post was for many years on the south bank of the river.
It now occupies two rough log houses on the opposite bank. The opposition firm,
Reyillon Freres, aiso have two log houses near those of the Hudson’s Bay Company.
These stores are both outposts of the posts at Fort St. John, located about the centre
of the Peace River Block, some sixty miles farther down the river. They were estab-
lished for the purpose of trading with the Indians during the late fall and winter
months, the season when the Indians of the Beaver tribe are in the vicinity. The
Beavers are a nomadic tribe, having no fixed place of residence or permanent habita-
tions, and owning neither horses nor cattle. They live entirely by hunting. Their
peripatetic villages consist of tepee frames. In order to meet the increasing demands
of travellers and settlers taking up pre-emption in this vicinity, the stock of mer-
chandise has been expanded to meet the expanding demand of the country. The cost
of freight or supplies from Edmonton to Hudson Hope by the steamers, which make
one or two trips a year, is about 10 or 11 cents a pound.

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