406 CONQUERING THE ARCTIC ICE 



night we had to put up at the house of a native, who had only 

 one rabbit for the two of us. Needless to say that we could 

 have eaten more, so I went out to look for frozen fish, and was 

 as proud as a king when I found one. Mr. Adams did not want 

 to eat it, so I ate the whole of it myself. 



We started early to make the short run to Fort Gibbon, and 



TYPICAL VIEW ON THE YUKON. 



at 10 A.M. on Thursday, February 13, we drove into the town, 

 passed along the line of houses, and put our dogs into some 

 kennels belonging to an " hotel." The fort, which holds about 

 two hundred men and half a dozen officers, is a fine place; with 

 its neat and commodious buildings for the officers, offices, 

 hospitals, the large drill ground, a bath-house, the barracks, 

 stables, etc., it flanks the only street of the town. Further up 

 the street there are about a dozen saloons, a restaurant, some 

 hotels, the N.A.C. store, and a couple of other smaller shops, 

 some dwelling-houses, and finally a gaol. The town stretches 

 along the river banks of the yukon for about a mile, and looks 

 big and imposing when seen from the river, but this impression 

 disappears as soon as we enter the town and see how little 

 there is beyond the houses of the front street. However, at 

 summertime the town has a good many ships coming and 

 going, as the larger steamers from St. Michael's meet the smaller 



