the whole
mass of tons' weight breaks loose and comes down upon them. But here
there are no elephants; dogs are the beasts of burden, and fine work
they do in teams, drawing laden sleighs over the frozen snow,--but dogs
can't pull out timber when it is jammed. A lumber man has to be a bit of
an engineer too, and learn how to dam up the stream to make enough water
to float his logs; he is a jack of many trades, and generally a fine
fellow too.

If we had come straight on from Victoria in the Empress steamer from
Japan we should have landed at Vancouver. The Empress Line belongs to
the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, which has its terminus there. This
is one of the most miraculous railways in the world. We are on it now.
When first it ran out to the Western end, after surmounting
indescribable difficulties in crossing the mountain country, it stopped
at that little place we passed through when we came to Vancouver from
New Westminster. You remember we saw a deserted town, solitary and
silent, on the inner curve of the bay? It is called Port Moody, and the
name suits it to a T. It has a right to be moody, for when it was known
the railway was going to end here the town sprang up in a week or two,
in the way Canadian towns do; but the very first winter was so terribly
severe that ice was driven up into the bay and blocked it completely,
preventing vessels from getting to the terminus at all, and so the
directors saw they must carry their line on farther round the bay to the
northern point, and here Vancouver arose; but the irony of it was that
no such winter has ever been known again! It only came that once, just
to blot out Port Moody's chances. So the place lies mouldering away,
with the lumber houses falling to pieces and the wharves rotting, and
only a few wooden crosses and headstones on the hill to mark the graves
of those who stayed behind when the others went.

[Illustration: NEGRO ATTENDANT.]

This is a very fine train, the cars are open all the way down, so we can
walk from end to end, the seats face in the direction we are going, and
the backs can be swung over to the other side in the same way as on a
tram-car. I know you have already noticed the very spruce negro
attendants, because I saw you staring at the first one who appeared with
all your eyes! There is an observation car with huge plate-glass windows
at the end of the train, and we will go there to-morrow when we get into
the mountains. I saw that t