ALASKA. 



279 



sledges. The men would go on ahead for a space, then return and start on 

 again, thus traversing the distance three times. Often they could not accom- 

 plish more than ten miles a day. 



At noon on the llth of November, a fortnight after starting, they caught 

 in the distance a glimpse of a faint bluish streak, varying the white monotony 



