12 THE WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON 



pelled, after getting him out and fixing his pack, to go on 

 with these two along the bank, not caring to risk return- 

 ing around the point. The other horses were not per- 

 mitted to attempt it and were taken up the slope on a 

 good game trail. It was necessary soon to take Danger 

 and Nigger up a very steep ridge where Nigger lost his 

 footing and rolled down about fifty feet. The pack was 

 uninjured, but we had to remove it and use Danger to 

 take it up the incline. Then, when trying to lead Nigger 

 up, he again lost courage and, rearing, fell backward and 

 rolled down some distance, but received no injury other 

 than a bad cut on a hind leg, which later did not seem 

 to trouble him. All this made considerable delay, but 

 finally we again got under way and soon found a good 

 game trail on the slope along which, with some chopping, 

 we passed and descended into a swamp where we picked 

 up the blazed trail. This swamp continued some miles 

 and was extremely difficult to travel through. Fortu- 

 nately, it had not rained sufficiently to make it impassable 

 and we were able to get through, though not without 

 much exasperating delay, owing to the bogging of the 

 horses and the consequent repacking or constant read- 

 justment of the packs. 



Late in the afternoon we emerged at a point where 

 Coal Creek forks; the main branch coming from the 

 north, the other of almost equal volume from the west. 

 A few hundred large spruce trees near here had been cut 

 the preceding winter, and most of the logs had been 

 driven down in the spring to a movable saw-mill, where 

 they were sawed into lumber to be used in the coal mines 



