A Good Many Wooden Houses, Two Or Three Churches (I Think The Congregations Must Be Very Small In Each), And

On Sunday morning all the inhabitants were out in their best, the men loafing and smoking about, and quite smart-

Looking young ladies showing their finery with great enjoyment, as they do at home. A mounted police officer drove a pair of good horses to meet some of his men, and there are cavalry barracks here for them. The train twice a week from Winnipeg is their only communication with the outer world, so when it arrives everyone, even from long distances, crowds the platform. We always take a walk at these resting places, but it is nervous work to go far, as the train starts without any notice, and they never keep to the time named.

_Wednesday, September 25th_. - After leaving Calgary, which I forgot to say is near a coal mine (Mr. de Winton, son of Sir Francis, has a ranch near), and is likely to be an important place some day, we went to Laggan, which is well into the mountains, and there we saw Professor George Ramsay, brother of Sir James, and he told us to get hold of the contractor, Mr. Ross, who would help us about going further on. The railway people, &c., all said to our great disgust that ladies would not be allowed to go down the steep incline to British Columbia; upon this we found out Mr. Boss, and he kindly consented to take us down the Pacific slope in his own car. At first the boys said I had better remain behind in our own car, but I felt that if there was a risk I would rather encounter it with them, and I wanted to see more of the country, so we prepared to start on Monday, but it poured, and Mr. Ross would not go till Tuesday. We took a small bag with night-gown, brush and comb, &c., and left the rest of our goods in charge of the odious, but I think honest, David, and started yesterday morning in Mr. Ross's car, in some respects a more convenient one than ours, for it has a writing table and a stove in the sitting room after an early breakfast at half-past seven. It was a glorious sunny day. We had two engines reversed, one before and one behind, and no end of brakes with safety 'switches,' every now and then to be turned on and to send us up hill if the engines ran away with us, and we crept down very slowly. It was very exciting, and the scenery magnificent, vistas of snowy mountains opening continually as we turned the corners, covered with brilliant yellow and red and purple foliage; and when we came to the foot of Mount Stephen (called after Mr. George Stephen, of Montreal), Mr. Ross said, "we ought to call one mountain Rayleigh." I exclaimed, "Oh, yes! There is a beautiful snow one which has been in sight all the way coming down, let that be Raleigh." And so it was agreed, and E - - and I sketched it. - Afterward Mr. Ross, said, "Rayleigh has quite a family after him," a curious succession of gradually decreasing tops, and we agreed that they should be _his five brothers_. At one place we went down to a bridge, very high over a river, and I thought, "it would be unpleasant if the engine runs away here," but curiously enough I was not at all nervous, for I felt so much care was taken, and it was a glorious day, and the scenery lifted one's soul above the small things of life _here_, and made one think of Him who created all these wonders, and yet became our human friend and sympathizer, and now lives to give us bye and bye even "greater things than these!" At last we got to the _Flats_ all safe, and then John and Dick walked to the end of the "construction," about five miles. If one was prepared to ride and rough it exceedingly, one could reach the Pacific in ten days, but ladies could not undergo the hardships, and we would not be left alone. Mr. Ross informed us that we must return soon to Kicking Horse Lake and Laggan, as there would be no train later. However, we said that John was extremely anxious to see the working of the line at the end, and it would be a great pity for him not to have the time, and "_could_ we stay the night?" He replied, "certainly." Hedley and E - - walked on at a great pace after the other two, beyond my powers, and I sauntered on quietly alone, only meeting a few men, belonging to the railway in most cases and working on the line, which is the only _road_ which one can walk on comfortably here, and I got three miles, but then a horrid bridge stopped me, as I hate walking on planks far apart over a height without a helping hand. I have been all along struck with the far superior accent and good English of the working men in America (Canada especially); they have often very good features, too, and wear a well-shaped moustache, and meet one with a smile. They treat one as equals, but they are not at all rude, and are always willing to help. I spoke to some in my solitary walk, and only that they were hard at work hammering in nails, &c., I should have liked to "tell them a story." They all returned from end of "construction" on a truck train, Dick and E - - on an open car, and Hedley and John in the cab of the engine. We then dined; such a fat coloured man Mr. Ross has in his car! He could hardly squeeze through the narrow passages, but he managed to give us something to eat. Mr. Ross received a telegram later to say Mr. Angus, our host at Montreal, Mr. Donald Smith, both directors of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Mr. Cyrus Field, &c., &c., were at Calgarry, and wanted to _come on_, so all is arranged for them, and they are expected soon, and we hope to return with them this afternoon to Laggan, to our own car.

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