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E D M O N T O N TO L E S S E R S L A V E L A K E 41 The old Indian, Peokus, heading the Police line, was a study. His garb was a pair of pants toned down to the colour of the grime they daily sank i n , a shirt and corduroy vest to match, a faded kerchief tied around his head, an Assomption sash, and a begrimed body inside of all—- a short, squarely built frame, clad with rounded muscles— nothing angular about him!— but the nerves within tireless as the stream he pulled against. On the lead, i n harness, his long arms swung l i k e pendulums, his whole body leant forward at an acute angle, the gait steady, and the step solid as the tramp of a gorilla. Some coarse black hairs clung here and there to his upper l i p ; his fine brown eyes were embedded i n wrinkles, and his swarthy features, though clumsy, were kindly— a good- humoured face, which, at a cheerful word or glance, l i t up at once with the grotesque g r i n of an animated gargoyle. This was the typical old- time tracker of the N o r t h ; the toiler who brought in the products of man's art i n the East, and took out Nature's returns — the Indian's output— ever since the trade first penetrated these endless solitudes. The forest scenery now became very s t r i k i n g ; primeval masses of poplar and birch foliage, which spread away and upward i n smoothest slopes, like vast lawns, studded with the sombre green of the pine tops which towered above them. Here and there the bends of the river crossed at such angles as to enclose a lake- like expanse of water. The river also took a fine colouring from its tributaries, a sort of greenish-yellow tinge, and now became flecked with bubbles and thin foam, so that we feared the freshet, which would have been disastrous. A t mid- day we reached Shoal Island— Pakwao M i n i s t i c— and here the poles were got out and the trackers took the middle of the river for nearly a mile, until deep water was reached. Placer miners had evidently been at work here, but with poor results, we were told. Below Baptiste Creek, however, the yield had been satisfactory, and several miners
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Title | Page 48 |
OCR | E D M O N T O N TO L E S S E R S L A V E L A K E 41 The old Indian, Peokus, heading the Police line, was a study. His garb was a pair of pants toned down to the colour of the grime they daily sank i n , a shirt and corduroy vest to match, a faded kerchief tied around his head, an Assomption sash, and a begrimed body inside of all—- a short, squarely built frame, clad with rounded muscles— nothing angular about him!— but the nerves within tireless as the stream he pulled against. On the lead, i n harness, his long arms swung l i k e pendulums, his whole body leant forward at an acute angle, the gait steady, and the step solid as the tramp of a gorilla. Some coarse black hairs clung here and there to his upper l i p ; his fine brown eyes were embedded i n wrinkles, and his swarthy features, though clumsy, were kindly— a good- humoured face, which, at a cheerful word or glance, l i t up at once with the grotesque g r i n of an animated gargoyle. This was the typical old- time tracker of the N o r t h ; the toiler who brought in the products of man's art i n the East, and took out Nature's returns — the Indian's output— ever since the trade first penetrated these endless solitudes. The forest scenery now became very s t r i k i n g ; primeval masses of poplar and birch foliage, which spread away and upward i n smoothest slopes, like vast lawns, studded with the sombre green of the pine tops which towered above them. Here and there the bends of the river crossed at such angles as to enclose a lake- like expanse of water. The river also took a fine colouring from its tributaries, a sort of greenish-yellow tinge, and now became flecked with bubbles and thin foam, so that we feared the freshet, which would have been disastrous. A t mid- day we reached Shoal Island— Pakwao M i n i s t i c— and here the poles were got out and the trackers took the middle of the river for nearly a mile, until deep water was reached. Placer miners had evidently been at work here, but with poor results, we were told. Below Baptiste Creek, however, the yield had been satisfactory, and several miners |
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