THE GLENLYON MOUNTAINS 289 



the valley, a snow storm descended and I was obliged to 

 return to camp. Foxes had completely eaten up the re- 

 mainder of the ram I had first killed. The two others 

 were in camp. 



September 25-26. The next day a heavy snow fell all 

 the morning and a dense fog settled in the afternoon, so 

 I could not go out. This fog continued also through the 

 following day. We spent most of the time sitting before 

 the fire. There was a fine grove of dry burnt spruces near 

 the shelter. Dry spruce is the main fuel supply of northern 

 camps. If thoroughly hard and dry it does not spark, 

 though it is quickly consumed. After a grove of spruce 

 is burned over, at least two years are required before the 

 charred trunks dry to perfection for burning. Dry balsam 

 makes a much better fire, burning steadily without a spark, 

 and is not consumed so quickly. Not often, however, is 

 the camp pitched where balsam is abundant. Dry poplar 

 makes a beautiful fire, very hot, no sparks, and steadily 

 burning. It is the best of all fires for baking bread. But 

 it smothers in its own ashes, which quickly accumulate, 

 and for that reason it is not used in a stove if other wood 

 can be found. Dry willow makes a hot fire, but the smoke 

 is unendurable. Alder, like poplar, accumulates ash, but 

 it is the best of all the northern fuel-wood to burn when 

 green. The most perfect wood is, of course, white birch, 

 but it is so scarce that it can be eliminated from the fuel 

 used by the camper in Yukon Territory and Alaska. 



September 27. The fog did not lift until the third day 

 at noon and I was soon climbing a low mountain south- 

 west of camp. There was not a track of any kind on the 



