i2 4 THE WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON 



up the slope, not impeded in the least by the ice, snow, 

 and slippery rocks. 



Immediately after firing, I looked through my field- 

 glasses at the nearer bull moose. He had evidently heard 

 the shot, for he was standing and looking up the mountain 

 in my direction, in which attitude he remained until I 

 hurried down the slope to a point where the glade was 

 lost to view. All the ewes, which I had examined care- 

 fully through my field-glasses, were of the same color as 

 the darker ones killed on Coal Creek. I gralloched both 

 and skinned the back of one and relieved it of its saddles, 

 which I shouldered as I began the tramp of five miles 

 across the rough country back to camp. It was my in- 

 tention to come back and get the skins and skulls. Before 

 dark I had struggled across the side of the mountain, and 

 during the last hour stumbled in the darkness through 

 bog, hummocks, and brush, until I thought I was oppo- 

 site camp and went up in the timber. Not finding it, a 

 shout brought back a welcome response from Selous. I 

 had passed the spot by a hundred yards. The men had 

 gone down to the river, where they were passing the night, 

 and were to return the next day with more provisions. 

 Some tenderloin mutton was soon cooking over the fire, 

 and Selous related his experience of the day, which had 

 resulted in a long, hard tramp without seeing anything 

 but caribou tracks. 



