Sunburst lay cloyed among
the products of field and forest and stream. At Viking one got the
impression of a strong pioneer life, vibrant, eager, and with a touch of
Arcady. But viewed from a distance Sunburst seemed Arcady itself. It was
built in green pastures, which stretched back on one side of the river,
smooth, luscious, undulating to the foot-hills. This was on one side of
the Whi-Whi River. On the other side was a narrow margin, and then a
sheer wall of hills in exquisite verdure. The houses were of wood, and
chiefly painted white, sweet and cool in the vast greenness. Cattle
wandered shoulders deep in the rich grass, and fruit of all kinds was to
be had for the picking. The population was strangely mixed. Men had
drifted here from all parts of the world, sometimes with their families,
sometimes without them. Many of them had settled here after mining at the
Caribou field and other places on the Frazer River. Mexican, Portuguese,
Canadian, Californian, Australian, Chinaman, and coolie lived here, side
by side, at ease in the quiet land, following a primitive occupation with
primitive methods.
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