ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE. u 



represented to be frightfully bad even at the time of my crossing. 

 The seasonal effects, doubtless, do much to modify the character of the 

 trails, and even local conditions must mold them to a very consider- 

 able extent. It is not difficult to conceive of miry spots along the 

 White Pass trail, or of snow-swept areas on the Chilkoot, and there 



M 





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certainly must be times when both trails are in a measure or way im- 

 passable. All trails are, however, subject to modifications in char- 

 acter, and even the best is at times sufficiently bad. Trains of pack 

 animals cross the White Pass both winter and summer, and, even 

 with the great loss to their " forefathers," their testimony of steady 

 work is a recommendation of the class of service in which they are en- 



