98 THE WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON 



and heard the splashing of the river as it raced around 

 the banks and glided over its rocky bottom. 



September 2. The next day we towed the boats, each 

 of us doing a share of work indifferently with our men, 

 until noon, when we stopped to make tea and eat lunch. 

 With ropes over our shoulders, we took turns at the 

 heavy pulling, walking on the bars, wading in the icy 

 cold water, toiling around driftwood, crossing from one 

 side of the river to the other, and continually straining 

 to drag the boats up the riffles. It was very hard work 

 and progress was slow. The river ran between ridges 

 which were mostly covered with black spruce and pop- 

 lars, though here and there white birches appeared. 

 The poplars and birches, tinted with fall colors, bright- 

 ened the wildness of the landscape. On the bars, numer- 

 ous tracks of bears attested their annual feasting on 

 salmon, all of which had died before our arrival. Moose 

 tracks, most of them old, were also abundant. 



Not long after we had lunched, as Selous and I were 

 hauling the canoes, Louis saw a cow moose and her calf 

 well ahead on the other side of the river, and about to 

 cross. Selous, who was ahead, quickly took his rifle 

 from the canoe and crept forward, while we crouched 

 to the ground. As they waded the river, he circled 

 around some driftwood, waded a slough, and shot the 

 cow just as she was about to enter the woods. She stag- 

 gered back toward the river and fell dead in a slough. 

 As he signalled that she had fallen, I ran forward to 

 follow him. The calf, trotting about in perplexity, sud- 

 denly saw him and coming directly toward him stopped 



