io6 THE WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON 



through which a fair-sized brook, cutting in some places 

 deep canons, came down from a rather broad valley, 

 between high, rough mountains. This valley, gently 

 rising, was enclosed in an amphitheatre of rugged moun- 

 tains, rising abruptly to high peaks and jagged crests 

 glistening in the snow. All through the northern coun- 

 try such places are called draws, signifying, I think, a 

 suitable conformation of the land to "draw" the water 

 from the adjacent mountain slopes. At the heads of 

 each of these draws above timber, there is usually an 

 area, level or gently sloping, covered with dwarf birch, 

 willow, and alder, all extending well up the adjacent 

 slopes. The ground is boggy, and the abundant willow 

 growth provides the favorite food of the moose in fall 

 and winter. Everywhere at the head of a draw old 

 moose tracks were so abundant that the place looked like 

 a cow pasture, and as many tracks were observed among 

 the willows of the higher slopes as in the area below. A 

 well-defined moose trail always runs on each side of the 

 creeks which flow from the draws, and the trail often 

 leads over low saddles between the ranges to the head of 

 another draw. 



I chose a place for a camp close to the brook, near 

 the end of timber, in a location suitable for climbing the 

 mountains on either side. The mountains were then 

 so covered with mist that I could not use my field-glasses 

 to find likely places for sheep. On returning I learned 

 that Selous had seen no fresh signs of any kind. Our 

 limited time, the difficulty of climbing the mountains cov- 

 ered with light snow, our ignorance of the country, and 



