“The Falls” refers to a set of
Fraser River rapids located approximately six km north of
Yale. An important site during the Fraser Gold Rush, the falls are, in various despatches
and documents, also referred to as the “Great Falls”, and the “Fraser falls”.
Douglas was an unwitting perpetrator of this confusion, as he used the name “Great Falls”
interchangeably to describe more than one locale in his despatches (as seen
here and
here).
The trail around the falls was described as a particularly treacherous and slow-going
area for miners and travellers, called a
mere-goat track with inclines of thirty to thirty-six degrees, and with yawning precipices;
Mayne allegedly described the area as
the roughest trail he ever encountered.
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