CHAPTER XII 



THE PELLY RIVER 1905 



HAVING stopped at both Whitehorse and Selkirk in 

 the hope of finding a means of transportation up the 

 Pelly, I arrived in Dawson July 12, where good luck 

 at last came to me. 



It had just been decided to send the steamer Vidette 

 the patrol-boat of the North-west Mounted Police up the 

 Pelly on an inspection trip, for the purpose of investigat- 

 ing the condition of the Indians and of gathering as 

 much information as possible about the trappers and the 

 country. My friend, Major Zachary Taylor Wood, com- 

 mander of all the Police in the Yukon Territory, invited 

 me to go on the Vidette as a guest, and it was to leave 

 Selkirk July 17. Major Wood, who had been command- 

 ing officer in the Territory from the days of the first rush 

 into Dawson, was keenly interested in science and natu- 

 ral history, and had taken special interest in my trips. 

 In every way he assisted me, and it is owing to his 

 courtesy more than anything else, that I was enabled to 

 carry out the plans for that summer, which had long be- 

 fore been decided upon. 



The next night I boarded the steamer Dawson and 

 reached Selkirk the morning of July 17, to find the 



Vidette already there, under the command of Captain 



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