Canada -- Description and travel; Canadian poetry -- History and criticism
"A massive white peak shot into the blue from a walled fortress of
rock. Two colossal rocky towers stood guard over a file of lesser
peaks; multi-coloured masses of granite, glacier-hung, glowed with
irridescent tints, while down a valley rushed a foaming river to meet
the cascades of colour pouring from the mountain...."
Between Mount Robson and Prince George (from which young city a
railway will soon be completed linking it with Vancouver) the route
on to Prince Rupert follows the Fraser River, the waters of which are
a chrysolite green, the furious current flecked with foam, while the
Fraser, at one point, transforms itself into a lake, seven miles
wide, with that easy power of compassing transformation scenes,
lightning changes, so to speak, of which the rivers of the Dominion
appear to hold the secret. When a Canadian river grows tired of
running, it immediately turns itself into a lake. When a Canadian
lake becomes tired of staying in the same place, {175} it at once
proceeds to become a river. Just what species of genii control the
wilds of Canada has not yet engaged the attention of her
statisticians. The great Fraser River has its headquarters in the
Yellowhead, and flowing through a broad valley, watering large
fertile tracts of land, it makes its progress to the Pacific 800
miles away. The view of this wonderful river from the railroad, as
the line passes high above the swirling waters, is a magnificent one.
The Fraser has a beautiful bend at Prince George, turning sharply to
the south, while the railway proceeds through another smiling valley,
the Nechako--a valley which is rich in plateau lands favourable for
agricultural uses, and along whose course are numberless sylvan
scenes that lend to it great beauty. Vanderhoof, the gateway to all
the region of lakes of British Columbia, is the capital of the
Nechako Valley. The railway again enters into the mountains, the
Coast Range, in the Bulkley Valley, and for a distance of 200 miles,
between Smithers and Prince Rupert, the view is diversified by
mountain peaks. The Nechako and Bulkley Rivers water fertile valleys
of more than 6,000,000 of acres, easily cultivated and offering a
scenic setting unparalleled in the world. Hazleton is a prosperous
and growing centre with an assured future. From this city the
railway route follows the Skeena River, which also has a trick of
widening at intervals. The splendid train glides on and on, and is
it on the air that one seems to hear echoed:
{176}
"There's a whisper on the night-wind, there's a star a-gleam to
guide us,
And the wild is calling, calling ... let us go!"?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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