246 THE WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON 



Wolves must be abundant, for I saw great quantities 

 of their old dung everywhere. Much of it contained 

 rabbit hair, and some of it moose hair, but in none of it 

 could I find sheep hair. 



The diggings and trails showed that grizzly bears are 

 abundant there in the spring. The fact that I saw only 

 one does not indicate that others were not about, for in 

 the summer the sight of grizzlies is always uncertain. 

 When we reached the Lapie on returning, I saw numer- 

 ous fresh signs where grizzlies had been digging the root 

 of the wild pea vine. Although huckleberries were very 

 abundant where I found the diggings, no berries or seeds 

 were in the fresh dung which contained only grass and 

 roots. 



August 14-16. Dried sheepskins are somewhat deli- 

 cate, and it was a problem to make a pack of seven, 

 including some of the skulls and our equipment. I loaded 

 my rucksack with forty pounds and tied a skull on top. 

 Jefferies was to carry two skulls, and we succeeded in 

 putting the rest of the material on Danger, and started. 

 Danger had been going lame in his right foreleg for a 

 week, and by the end of the day he was so lame that the 

 following morning we ourselves had to carry in relays all 

 the material for two miles over a ridge, when we again 

 loaded the horse, who limped along for the rest of the day. 

 For the next two days we proceeded, the lame horse keep- 

 ing up nobly, down grade and over a route then well 

 known to us. When trophies are carried on a pack-horse, 

 travelling through swamps, brush, and timber, it is ex- 

 cruciating agony to follow. Smash, bang, tear, rip, crash, 



