C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

29(Ei_D~a~s ____ ~ ____ ~AshoreWe 0 n!y s pen t a few d qy son b 0 Q r d the Athabasca for there are unnavigablerapids below Fort Fitzgerald. Steamers have to unload there, and portage freightand passengers some r6 miles to Fort Smith where another steamer loads up forthe rest of the Mackenzie River journey.Meanwhile every hour of those few days had been full of contrasts. One day wemet a sandstorm and a gale of wind and found, when we went ashore, that themosquitoes had disappeared; we were learning to look on any breeze as a liberator.The white poplars gave way to cottonwood trees. One evening we came todeep water where the river corkscrewed between dense woods. We went up to thecaptain's wheelhouse to enjoy the sunset hour. The wind had died down, the skywas molten gold. The captain, a habitually silent Swiss who had come in some 45years ago, hardly spoke at all, yet he made us feel welcome.Mter passing through the western end of Lake Athabasca we went ashore for ashort spell at Fort Chipewyan, a small settlement of white wood houses with rockysurroundings. Hitherto we had seen only trees and mud and grass enclosing theriver. That evening we came to Fort Fitzgerald which was almost a township,though, like other inhabited places of the North it was called a settlement. It washardly possible to believe that we had begun our river journey only a few days ago.So many new faces, so many wild stories and strange conversations, so much foodfor thought; the swift yet steady movement of the vast river and the thousands oftrees that seemed to be passing us all the time with a mysterious greeting as theydisappeared into the land of Nevermore; strange flowers and birds; the peace ofdawn and sunset skies. Indeed our days had been kaleidoscopic.