28 HUNTING IN THE ARCTIC 



ticable route, nearly all by water, from the delta of the 

 Mackenzie River to the Yukon, with a portage of only a 

 few miles. One trader had about 800 fox skins ready 

 for shipment. Another resident had shot a large moose 

 about 300 miles up the Black River. Shrunk consider- 

 ably by drying though it was, the widest points were 

 still 68| inches apart. 



A long distance to Fort Hamlin we threaded the shift- 

 ing channels of the broad Yukon Flats, until the hills 

 pinched the stream together again at Rampart. The 

 principal sight here was the cabin of Rex Beach, author 

 of stirring Alaskan stories. Here we met Captain Mayo, 

 the trader in Beach's "The Barrier" and one of the most 

 famous old-time Yukon characters. 



On we went, and at Tanana turned up the shallow 

 Tanana River toward Fairbanks. If the Yukon was 

 tedious to navigate, the Tanana was worse. The flat- 

 bottomed "Dawson," drawing less than four feet, habit- 

 ually brushed the bottom and frequently ran hard on the 

 edges of the channel. Almost inmiediately she shd off 

 again, except once when it looked as if we might stay a 

 long time. All these river boats carried long spuds, 

 great wooden beams, standing upright, one at each side 

 near the bow. If fast aground they would set the lower 

 ends of these overboard, raise the bow by hauUng on 

 tackles made fast to the upper ends and walk her off the 

 sand. Only once did they cast off the stops and get 

 ready to use the spuds; but before they were lowered, 

 the current had washed her free again. It was slow 

 going, for the pilot had to steer by reading the surface of 

 the water and often tried several com-ses before finding 

 one clear. Then there was a wood pile to stop at about 

 twice a day, here, as well as on the Yukon, and several 



