196 THE WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON 



the stage when I was there in both July and August, there 

 was not a single fording place anywhere within fifty miles 

 from its mouth. Through that distance it descends at 

 the rate of thirty feet to the mile. From its source in the 

 divide ranges, it flows in a north-east direction; its length 

 is between eighty and a hundred miles; its width for the 

 last forty miles, from seventy to a hundred feet, becoming 

 narrower above. 



July 24-26. For the next three days the travelling 

 was exactly like that on the upper reaches of Coal Creek, 

 except that we were obliged to keep on the left bank, for 

 even if a ford could have been found, it would not have 

 been practicable to have taken a horse along the other 

 side, because of continuous ridges sloping precipitously 

 to the river. When we had travelled about twenty miles, 

 the high, rough mountains completely engulfed us. The 

 main divide was not more than twenty or thirty miles far- 

 ther on in a straight line, and a fine large tributary, flow- 

 ing from extremely rugged mountains more to the south- 

 west perfect sheep ranges entered the Lapie a short 

 distance north of the divide. I decided to ascend this 

 branch to timber-line and make my camp. Timber-line 

 was twelve miles distant, and nine hundred feet above 

 that part of the Lapie. Moose tracks had been abundant 

 along the bars of the river, nearly all going down stream, 

 but their trails were not so well defined as those on Coal 

 Creek. Rabbits, ground-squirrels, and red squirrels were 

 plentiful, bear signs scarce, and bird life almost absent, 

 except for golden eagles, Alaska jays, ravens, and gos- 

 hawks. The weather was fair, and there were no mosqui- 



