INTRODUCTION OF DOMESTIC REINDEER INTO ALASKA. i .) 



covered (luring the short afternoon. We have plenty ol wood and 

 good shelter as long as we travel in among the mountams. A north- 

 erly wind has been blowing all day, but not liard. 



Tuesday, December 15. — All days can not be equally bright, nor 

 can we be equally successful every day. As stated yesterday, we 

 chose to follow the river instead of going higher up among tlie moun- 

 tains. All went well as lar as we knew the river j)erfectly, but soon 

 we came beyond that liinit, and we traveled all forenoon not accom- 

 ])lishing more than '^ miles. The snow^ became looser and deeper 

 the farther up we came, and no possibility to get off from the river 

 either, l)ecause of timber and brush. About noon we reached a 

 place where the moimtains were tolerably steep, and there was not 

 so much brush on the side but what we could make our way through. 

 Once more we were on the mountains, wdiere reuideer travelers really 

 l^elong. In pure delight we made at once a big camp fire and had 

 our tea. The afternoon has been nmch more profital)le to us than 

 the forenoon was, but still the day's accomplishment is not by any 

 means what it ought to be. 



It has been dark and snowy all day, but not too much so for 

 one to travel with comfort. The wind has been northeasterly and 

 very gentle. The great fear we had a few days ago on the Yukon 

 tundra, that all the snow should go away and we have to come home 

 in boats, has proven itself groundless. A good lesson, indeed, ''not 

 to worry for to-morrow." Never could the snow be more nearly 

 right for traveling than wdiat it is just here where w^e have gone 

 to-day. On account of darkness Ave were obliged to make camp a 

 little before 3 p. m. 



Wednesday, December 16. — So another day with its struggles and 

 pleasures is over. While yet .quite dark this morning we were off on 

 our homeward march, and at 3 p. m. camp was made exactly on the 

 same spot as in the evening of November IS. If w'e had gone the best 

 and shortest w^ay, tliis place could have been reached at noon and 

 to-night we could have been near the portage, where exit is made to 

 the plains again. But Bals got lost to-day and would not go the A\^ay 

 Nallogoroak and I said, now proven to be the right one. The day 

 has been beautiful. No wdnds. 



Thursday, December 17. — This day has been the brightest one we 

 have had on our return trip. All the clouds had disappeared this 

 morning. The air was fresh and it was cold. As the morning, so the 

 da}- has continued to be. Cam}) was left at 7 o'clock. At tea time 

 we had just reached the summit of the divide which separates the 

 headwaters of the tributaries of Andreafski and those of Pastolik 

 River. There is no language by wdiich to describe the s})lendor of 

 such a noon hour. On the one side is the vast level tundra, which 

 from the mountain tops looks like an ocean of snow. As far as the eye 



