II GUIDES, EQUIPMENT, HUNTING LOCALITIES 23 



clothes, with a few spare pairs of socks, or stockings, will 

 suffice. The question of boots versus shoes, etc., may be 

 answered according to the fancy of their wearers. Personally, 

 I swear by a pattern of field-boot made specially for me by 

 E. Olsen, Bootmaker, Trondhjem, Norway, These boots, 

 which are very light, durable, and waterproof, are exceed- 

 ingly cheap, costing less than 30s. per pair. Most of the 

 natives and miners in Alaska are provided with long "gum- 

 boots," — undoubtedly the most uncomfortable and tiring 

 foot-wear on earth. If short ankle-boots are worn, the water 

 is perpetually getting over the tops of them in marshes and 

 small streams. Nine times out of ten long field-boots will 

 get their owner across such spots with dry feet. On the 

 tenth occasion my advice is, make the native carry you over 

 the water. If he is wearing "gum-boots" he will not get 

 wet, and if he has not such boots he will get wet in any case, 

 and may just as well carry you over as let you get wet 

 too. There is no doubt that field-boots are apt to be rather 

 noisy when the wearer is crawling through thick brush in 

 the moose-country. Putties or stockings do not make so 

 much noise when striking the twigs ; but perhaps the best 

 form of leg -covering for this job is a pair of soft cloth 

 gaiters, as they do not tear or get caught in the bushes. 

 An exception is always to be made in favour of the native 

 moccasins, which are far the best things for creeping about 

 in, but are not popular with most Englishmen. A really 

 good waterproof coat, such as is supplied by Burberry of the 

 Haymarket, is a necessity, as also is a broad-brimmed soft 

 hat, over which a mosquito veil can be hung. A pair of 

 long gauntlets to aid in keeping off the attacks of mosquitoes, 

 which, as the prospectors in the country declare, " look as 

 big as rabbits, and bite like a dog," is also valuable. 



