ie ee it 5 a - REPTaSeT SEAS, SAFER IE ASS ~{ To CARIBOO AND BACK }-- it rich in the Cariboo Gold Fields.” He looked benignly from one to another of the smiling incredulous faces. Good luck meant gold and nothing else to them at that time. “And now in conclusion we will sing the Doxology,” said the professor after a short pause. The travellers came first to Portage la Prairie, passing through the country that is now Manitoba. From there they proceeded to Fort Ellice where the glorious weather changed to rain and storm. But they were hospitably received inside the fort and there they called a halt until the weather cleared again. They employed themselves mending carts and har- ness and taking in more supplies in the interval. Pemmican was their chief reliance for food in these days. It consisted of pounded dried buf- falo meat and fat, packed in skins, and was the most concentrated form of nourishment they could carry, though not appetizing to those who were not accustomed to it. After crossing the Qu’Appelle River on rafts supplied by the Indians of the place, who charged them fifty cents a head, they went on over the rolling plains, over country which in [86]