2 THE UPPER YUKON 



returned to the city, there were gathered one 

 night around the fire of the open grate a score 

 of hunters, some of them fresh from New 

 Brunswick, others from Nova Scotia, New- 

 foundland, Northern British Columbia, 

 Northern Ontario, the Province of Quebec, 

 the Yukon Territory, and Labrador. 



One by one they told the tales of their ad- 

 ventures. Some of them were out of the ordi- 

 nary, yet not at all startling, until the last 

 man arose. As "an honest tale speeds best 

 being plainly told," he narrated in a modest 

 but graphic manner the history of a journey 

 to the Upper Yukon and back which he had 

 finished but a few days before. The descrip- 

 tion given of the section of country hunted in, 

 its wealth of wild animal life, its towering 

 mountains capped with snow or ice, its wide 

 river beds, its invigorating climate, together 

 with the fact that it was practically an un- 

 known territory, held us spell-bound until he 

 finished. Then came the eager questions of 

 the guests as to the distance, the privations 

 to be endured, the expense of such a trip, and 

 the length of time needed to make it. 



When it was all over and the men had left 

 the house, I went to bed, but I could sleep but 

 little that night. The story excited my imagi- 



