Copper River 



his leg and possibly his life by his return to 

 civilization, doctors, and good nursing. This 

 man was a prospector and big -game hunter. 

 It was from him that I obtained the first authen- 

 tic news of what likelihood of success I might 

 expect. He had spent months after moose and 

 sheep, bringing out the trophies for the sake of 

 the money he could make by selling them. I 

 agreed to take him back to Kusiloff with me, 

 paying his fare, as he seemed to have next to no 

 money for that purpose. I half promised to 

 take him with me into the woods, that is to say 

 if he were well enough to accompany me. This, 

 however, proved to be completely out of the 

 question, as it was a matter of sheer impossi- 

 bility for him to walk any distance, and I doubted 

 the advisability of his returning to the rough 

 life of that part of the country at all. 



We had, as fellow-passenger, an American 

 named Edgcombe, who had on board a number 

 of horses and men. His was an expedition 

 which had been sent out by the U.S.A. Govern- 

 ment to try and find, or rather to make, a trail 

 from Copper River to Dawson City, a distance, 

 as the crow flies, of about four hundred miles. 

 The purser of this steamer, a drunken little 

 blackguard, and, I am ashamed to say, an 

 Englishman by birth, was grossly impertinent 

 to me one day when in his cups, and threatened 

 to shoot me whilst we were at Copper River. 



205 



