148 RECENT HUNTING TRIPS. 



mountain ranges on whose summits were a few 

 small patches of last winter's snow. The 

 weather was warm but very rainy, and the 

 mosquitoes were troublesome at nights. 



The whole country between the mountains 

 and the Yukon was covered with scrubby 

 spruce forest, and seemed almost entirely 

 lifeless, as I never saw the track of any kind 

 of animal, and scarcely a bird was to be seen 

 in a whole day's march. However, we often 

 saw shed moose horns lying near the trail, 

 bleached white, and some of them were 

 slightly gnawed, probably by field mice. 

 Inkster told me that this was a good country 

 for moose when the Klondyke goldfield was 

 first discovered, but that the meat-hunters had 

 driven them all far away. 



On August 14th we had a long climb up the 

 mountains, and must have ascended quite four 

 thousand feet above our camp. The whole 

 country was furrowed with deeply-worn caribou 

 trails, showing thatthese animals must once have 

 been in the habit of migrating over the slopes 

 of these mountains in very large herds. Soon 



