No railway had then been made to link ocean with ocean, and it seems most suitable that now after thirty years the pass should for the future bear Dr. Hector's own name, instead of one recalling the memory of his misfortune. Time went on, other lines crossed the continent, and Great Britain could not be behindhand in enterprises of this nature. Many passes through the Rockies were explored. The Kicking Horse pass could not be beaten, but then there was the Selkirk range beyond. Mr. Walter Moberly had here been the chief explorer, but the railway difficulty was at last solved in 1883 by Major Rogers discovering the pass bearing his name, and also a pass through the Gold range to the westward, the last link necessary to connect ocean with ocean. Thus was Sir James Hector's suggestion of thirty years ago fulfilled, and the Canadian Pacific Railway became an accomplished fact. CHAPTER V. There its dusky blue clusters The aconite spreads, There the pines slope, the cloud stripes MATTHEW ARNOLD. Leave Calgary.-Ascend the Rockies.-Steep descent.-Cross the Columbia. In the Selkirks. The trestle-bridges and snow sheds. -The great Illecellewaet glacier. OUR walk on the prairie had proved so delightfully refreshing, that when the Pacific Express arrived soon after midnight, and we had taken our places in the cars, we sank quickly into dream-land, and did not wake up till the train was far into the bosom of the mountains. On awakening, the outlook seemed very beautiful. The Bow river, along the margin of which we ascended, flashed and sparkled in the morning sunshine. Wreaths of filmy golden mist hung around the sombre pine forest, while above all, the mountains rose on either hand in beetling cliffs and snowy summits. It was a glorious morning, and to a lover of mountain scenery this first near glimpse of the Rocky Mountains, resplendent in the golden light of the rising sun, was one of those experiences in life never to be forgotten. During our time of blissful unconsciousness we had passed Banff, where a very fine hotel has been built by the Canadian Pacific Railway, and were now drawing near to Castle Mountain station. Here we paused at the water tank, and Mr. McArthur, Assistant Government Surveyor, to whom we had been commended by his chief at Ottawa, came on board the train, from his camp close by. He, with his assistant, was en route for the summit of the pass, from which he intended making a mountain ascent for surveying purposes. As he had been for two or three seasons engaged in the survey of this portion of the Rockies, he could give us much interesting information. As we rattled along, he pointed out the various mountains of importance, and said he would like to join us later on in an attempt to ascend Mount Lefroy (11,658 feet), the highest measured mountain in the portion of the Rockies in British territory. Though our special work lay in the Selkirk range, the prospect of exploring some of the peaks of this eastern range seemed most agreeable, so we settled that morning before we parted, that I should leave enough time for this expedition or v.] A STEEP DESCENT. 55 our return journey, and give him due notice when to expect us. Assuring us that we might trust all camp arrangements to him, he and his companion left us at Hector pass for their mountain climb, and bidding them bon voyage, we entered upon the most critical portion of the whole line, the terribly steep descent towards the Columbia valley. At the summit of the pass a huge locomotive with ten driving wheels, and weighing one hundred and seventeen tons, was attached to the back of the train, and trusting to its restraining power and to that of eight extra men, who came on board the train to help at screwing down the brakes attached to each car, we started at a cautiously slow pace down a gradient of one in twenty-three. The Wapta river, in whose company we had to make our way to the Columbia, on issuing from its lake on the summit of the pass, plunges down in a series of cascades, descending 1,100 feet in five miles. The railway track, being unable to descend in this precipitate manner, clings to the steep precipices of the mountain side and consequently is soon left high above the valley. Across trestle-bridges spanning deep ravines, and round sharp curves, we wound our way, getting views from the windows of the train, or better still, from the platform at the end of the car, which were sufficiently startling. Pinned on to the face of the precipice, trusting in many places to elaborate scaffoldings of pine trunks, built up from what seemed perilously insecure foundations, occasionally resting on mere notches in the rocky walls, the track winds its way downwards to Field station at the foot of Mount Stephen, and the level of the Wapta is once more reached. Here the big locomotive left us to await the arrival of the East-bound train, which with mighty puffings it had to shove up the steep incline to the summit. As it is impossible to take the heavy diningcars through the mountains, three little inns have been built by the Railway Company, one at Field, one the "Glacier House," at the summit of the Selkirks, and one at North Bend on the Frazer river. Each of these has its refreshment room where excellent meals are served, and here at Field all the passengers betook themselves to breakfast. Porridge, broiled salmon, beefsteak, omelette, and mountain air seemed to go well together, and every one felt more happy when the conductor's cry of "All aboard," and the blast of the whistle resounding from the overhanging cliffs warned us to resume our seats and continue on our way. The views up lateral valleys to glacier-clad peaks, every moment attracted our attention, but our grandest mountain view was that of the Ottertail range, to the south of the track. The peaks of this range, composed of intrusive syenite, tower up in sharp aiguilles, the hollows being filled with glacier ice. |