ost people who travel keep to the main lines and as the negro hymn suggests, 'in de middle ob de road,' at that. They are not given to side excursions. They take the train at one point and never leave it till they reach the terminus. One is not to be blamed for all this. There is enough at these and other points on the 'main traveled lines' to charm one into forgetfulness of everything else. The mountains of the Canadian Rockies are the most wonderful on the Continent; the three lakes, rising one above the other in the hills behind Laggan, are marvels of beauty; the great glacier of the Selkirks is one of the greatest in the world. There is no continuous journey that has more of interest and grandeur than that through the Canadian Rockies. It has furnished an unbounded field for the artist, a new inspiration to the poet, and a perpetual delight to the tourist.

But, as the saying goes, 'As we journey through life, let us live by the way,' let us see what we can while on a journey to the Inland Empire or to the North Pacific, by not rushing through he mountains to the North of this wonderful country and scarcely touching its marvels to the South, but spend a few days, a week or a month making side trips and little journeys here and there; down the picturesque rivers and through the beautiful lakes to be found hereabouts on every hand. Here is the idea.

If one is bound to any of the points to the South, West or Northwest of this district, let him leave the main line at Dunmore Junction, going West over the route of the Crow's Nest Pass to Kooteney Landing.

Take the steamer from Kootenay Landing to Nelson,
By rail along the Kootenay River to the West Robson,
Up the Arrow Lakes to Arrowhead,
Thence to destination, or
Retrace the steps as far as Nakusp,
From Nakusp to Rosebery by rail,
(Side trip by rail to Sandon),
Down the Slocan Lake to Slocan City,
By rail to Nelson, and then
By boat again to Kootenay Landing.
In this way having made a loop through the most beautiful lake and river scenery in North America.

Kootenay Landing is the Eastern gateway to a region whose beauty of lake and hill, of forest and river, rivals the most famous spots in the World. The English, Swiss and Italian Lake regions present no fairer vision.

From Kootenay Landing we took one of the Soo-Pacific Railway's splendidly equipped stemers up the Kootenay Lake to Nelson and on this beautiful sheet of hill girt water we got our first impression of the grandeur of this great chain of waterways.