218 THE WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON 



only time when the jays, which were as abundant in that 

 locality as elsewhere in the north, came about the camp. 

 I have camped in other places, in both Yukon Territory 

 and Alaska, where jays did not come to camp, but such 

 absences are most exceptional. We had set out numbers of 

 traps for mice, both in the woods and in the higher coun- 

 try, but not a mouse did we catch during all the time we 

 were there, nor did I see any fresh signs. It was a season 

 when nearly all the mice in that locality had disappeared. 

 In those happy days among the Pelly Mountains, a 

 shadow was constantly playing over my exuberant spirits 

 the thought of the inevitable fate of the good horse 

 Danger. Gentle, strong, and of good sense, he was 

 naturally dependent on some kind of companionship. 

 Far in the wilds, surrounded by woods, where the breezes 

 often wafted to his delicate nostrils the air tainted with 

 the odor of animals terrifying to him, he had become 

 completely dependent on our near presence, except when 

 he was obliged to stray off to feed. At intervals through 

 the day he would wander about in search of good grass, 

 but immediately after satisfying his hunger he would 

 hasten back to camp, and after standing in the smoke of 

 the fire to rid himself of flies would lie down in his hol- 

 low, three feet to the right of the shelter front. Although 

 he continually begged for bits of bread and sugar, he de- 

 veloped none of those thieving habits so common among 

 horses living in that country. Whenever I met him in the 

 woods, after satisfying himself of my reality, he would 

 trot up and follow me back to camp. He had become 

 like an affectionate dog. 



