The Coast range of the Rockies is still beyond us, the fourth and last ridge of these wonderful mountains, through which the Canadian Pacific makes its way by going down the remarkable canyons of Thompson and Fraser Rivers for nearly three hundred miles. At the junction of the two forks of the Thompson is the town of Kamloops, its Indian name meaning "the confluence." It is in a good ranching district, and like all the settlements in British Columbia has quite an elaborate "China-town." Beyond Kamloops the Thompson canyon is entered, a desolate gorge almost without vegetation, through which a rapid torrent rushes, the high steep shores being composed of a rotten rock which water and frost have moulded into strange and fantastic shapes, while the stream constantly burrows more deeply into it. The mud-colored banks are thus carved into massive turrets, cones and pyramids, with groups of impressive columns standing on high, having colossal ranks of ghostly statues looking down from above. In one place a grand semicircular group of cowled and hooded monks with their backs to the river are kneeling apparently around a gigantic altar. Almost every conceivable form has been wrought by the running waters on these precipitous bluffs. Not a tree is seen, and all seems bleak desolation. At the Black Canyon the scene is mournfully terrific, the walls composed of an almost black sand, wherein the whirling river rapids have scooped out immense amphitheatres mounting almost perpendicularly for a thousand feet. Then a change comes, the steep and barren walls developing varieties of color, being streaked with creamy white, red, purple, yellow, maroon, dark brown and black in richest form, as the waters have run the different hued soils over them from top to bottom, the rushing river below being a bright emerald. It is a picture of parti-colored desolation, the gaudy hues and strange forms of these precipitous cliffs being the gorgeous exhibition of a most beautiful desert. This remarkable canyon is followed nearly a hundred miles until the Thompson flows into the Fraser River.
Television Review
America, Volume 6 (of 6) — Part 73
2026-11-15 16:31:55 · Cedar Herald Index
Tags
WorldBusinessTechnologyScienceHealthCultureTravelSportsPoliticsEnvironmentEducationOpinion