TWO DIANAS IN ALASKA 211 



The first day we covered ten miles, the next a little 

 more, and the third twelve. A prodigious feat, all 

 encumbered as we were. 



On the third evening Ralph sighted four caribou 

 as they crossed a bit of plateau ground, and all about 

 us grew the sort of herbage beloved of the tribe. 



In the keen air, and as a result of the exercise, our 

 appetites became enormous, and we began to fear 

 a shortage of provisions. The inroads on the stores 

 were already great. We had no fresh meat, and but 

 a few tins of beef for use in emergencies. Except for 

 flour, tea, coffee, and a few impossible-to-get-along- 

 without necessaries our supplies were not overwhelm- 

 ing in quantity. We were rather alarmed at the 

 prospect of depending entirely on our rifles for a 

 living. The problem of " How to live on nothing a 

 year" was as great a poser to us as it becomes 

 annually at home during the "silly season" corre- 

 spondence-era. Our men, too, were a ravenous 

 horde, and needed some providing for. Meat simply 

 must be forthcoming, and we planned out a regular 

 campaign for the next day. If possible all four of us 

 must return to camp with a caribou, bull or cow, and 

 some of the surplus meat could be dried. Immediate 

 necessities being provided for, we should be able 

 to take our own time to pick and choose our heads. 



We planned and arranged as though a thousand 

 head of caribou waited our pleasure on the grassy, 

 snow-patched slopes. I walked and walked from 

 early morning to late afternoon, until I was 

 thoroughly wearied out, with a hungry henchman 



