CHAPTER XVI 



THE TRIP UP ROSS RIVER 1905 



AUGUST 17 and 18 were spent in storing the skins, 

 sorting out provisions, and preparing the canoe. The 

 following morning we started up Ross River. I wanted 

 to investigate the mountain ranges adjacent to it, and ex- 

 amine the sheep if any could be found. The Indians had 

 told me that no sheep existed west of the Mackenzie di- 

 vide, but knowing that they did not like to have anybody 

 hunt in their territory, I realized that I must personally 

 explore the mountains. 



The volume of Ross River at its confluence with the 

 Pelly is slightly less than that of the latter. It was dis- 

 covered by Campbell during his trip down the Pelly in 

 1843, and named by him after Duncan Ross, chief factor 

 of the Hudson Bay Company. Its source is near the di- 

 vide of land separating the Mackenzie River water-shed 

 from that of the Yukon, about latitude 63. The sources 

 of the Pelly River and the South Branch of the MacMillan 

 on the west side of the divide, and those of the Gravel 

 River on the east side, are within a few miles of those of 

 the Ross, which latter meanders for a distance not far 

 from two hundred miles in a south-westerly direction to 

 the Pelly. Several lakes, situated at intervals in the up- 

 per reaches of its main drainage channel, are features not 



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