90 THE WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON 



gressing with accelerated speed against a slower current, 

 we steamed up the river for two hours, until the boat 

 was tied to the bank for the purpose of cutting and load- 

 ing wood. The night came on, clear and cold, while the 

 stars glittered through the trees. It was dark at nine 

 o'clock. A large camp-fire was made, which spread 

 warmth and geniality to all of us sitting about it. That 

 night the thermometer went down to twenty degrees 

 Fahrenheit. 



August 27. An hour after starting, the captain, fail- 

 ing to "read the water," ran the bow into the mud well 

 outside the channel. We pottered about in disgust for 

 two hours before getting her off, as the usual tackle 

 for such purposes had not been brought. The day was 

 clear and calm. As we passed along the MacMillan 

 range, the peaks and ridges of Dromedary Mountain were 

 visible in the distance, and on the north the Kalzas range 

 appeared, its highest summits close to the river. The 

 scenery all day was like the Canadian wilderness with the 

 added grandeur of imposing mountain ranges on both 

 sides. In rounding the numerous curves, we reduced to 

 half speed, so that the average distance was not gained 

 on the day's trip. A flock of geese was seen, and often, 

 on the bars, tracks of moose and bears. 



It had become clear to all that the captain was not 

 able to handle the boat. He kept failing to see the 

 channel, even when it was perfectly clear to inexperi- 

 enced eyes like my own, and, after running on another 

 bar, he exclaimed that it was suicidal to attempt to navi- 

 gate the river; and at Kalzas Creek, only thirty miles 



