Had
worked for me, and the kind of service they had rendered, commended
Freesay, and told the truth about Beaulieu.
"Dat paper tell about me," said that worthy suspiciously.
"Yes," I said, "and about the others; and it tells Harding to pay
you as agreed."
We all shook hands and parted. I have not seen them since, nor do
I wish to meet any of them again, except Freesay.
My advice to the next traveller would be: get white men for the trip
and one Indian for guide. When alone they are manageable, and some
of them, as seen already, are quite satisfactory, but the more of
them the worse. They combine, as Pike says, the meanest qualities
of a savage and an unscrupulous moneylender. The worst one in the
crowd seems most readily followed by the others.
CHAPTER XXVIII
GEOLOGICAL FORCES AT WORK
It seems to me that never before have I seen the geological forces
of nature so obviously at work. Elsewhere I have seen great valleys,
cliffs, islands, etc., held on good evidence to be the results of
such and such powers formerly very active; but here on the Athabaska
I saw daily evidence of these powers in full blast, ripping, tearing
reconstructing, while we looked on.
