IN THE ALASKA- YUKON GAMELANDS 



one accustomed only to moderate running water. 

 Besides, it Is Ice cold, coming from the glacier 

 but a few miles away, and to even get soaked In 

 it, with nothing worse, might mean a bad case of 

 rheumatism; while if one's horse should roll in 

 this water there would be an excellent chance of 

 a funeral at the opposite shore. The boys who 

 knew more about glacial streams than we advised 

 us, should our horse roll, to jump downstream, 

 rather than up, as by doing so we would fall 

 clear of our horse, and being lighter would float 

 or swim out of Its reach; whereas, by jumping 

 upstream we would run the risk of being sucked 

 under the horse. A man was killed on the NIzina 

 in this way a year before, his head being crushed 

 by one of the horse's feet. In crossing these 

 streams (for there were others as bad as the 

 NIzina, including the Frederika and White), we 

 always leaned downstream, which served to 

 brace the horse by throwing his feet upstream — 

 the very opposite effect of leaning upstream and 

 forcing the feet down. This Is a knack I had 

 learned while swimming our horses across the 

 Shoshone River in Wyoming many years ago 

 while bear hunting with Ned Frost, and I've 

 never forgotten it. At first it sounds almost un- 

 reasonable, as. If we were fording such a stream 

 on foot we would lean up, but on horseback the 

 conditions are reversed. 



Many brave men lose their lives in this wild 

 country every year from a variety of causes. 



48 



