274 THE WILDERNESS OF THE UPPER YUKON 



spring. Keele, who spent the winter on Sheldon Lake in 

 1907-1908, found moose very abundant everywhere, but 

 saw only five or six caribou near Mount Riddell. He 

 observed no sheep on Mount Sheldon, and probably the 

 small band I had seen there will decrease to the point of 

 extinction, if any still exist.* 



I observed the same varieties of birds as on the Mac- 

 Millan. In the Yukon territory bird-life in the summer 

 and fall is not great in variety and birds are not observed 

 so often as in the spring. On the Ross and at the lakes 

 Alaska jays were about camp all the time. Rabbits, red 

 squirrels, ground-squirrels, marmots, and red-backed 

 mice were the common small mammals. The vast spruce 

 forests yielded to former trappers abundant martens, 

 lynxes, and some minks, but foxes are rather scarce. 

 During the winter Keele saw a great many wolves, which 

 usually were gathered in bands to hunt moose. 



September 7-9. As we paddled through the lakes early 

 in the morning, numerous whistling swans were floating 

 on the surface. Later, Lewis told me that thousands 

 came to these lakes in October. We paddled down the 

 river for three days. The whole country was aflame with 

 brilliant fall colors. The areas covered by huckleberry 

 bushes were deep carmine in contrast to the bright-red 

 leaves of the currant bushes along the river banks; yel- 

 low and gold streamed out from the poplars and willows, 

 while the scattered birches reflected charming tints of 

 green, delicately shading into the others; splashes of 



* Keele does not think that there are any other sheep in any of the 

 mountains bordering the Ross River. 



