48 THE UPPER YUKON 



They said that in the morning everything 

 would be in readiness, but it was not. There 

 was still much preparation to be made, not 

 only during the early morn, but all the fore- 

 noon. 



In the previous month, July, one thousand 

 nine hundred and twenty-eight pounds of sup- 

 plies had been sent ahead of us to a central 

 camp over two hundred miles away. Now 

 we had to take the necessary supplies with us 

 to last us on the journey until that point was 

 reached. 



The outfitters of merchandise seemed to de- 

 sire to prolong our stay in White Horse rather 

 than to help us to start on our way, and they 

 couldn't or wouldn't be hurried, so that when 

 we finally did leave, we went without our in- 

 voice for the supplies. 



At 2.30 P. M. a four-horse wagon drove up, 

 followed by a two-horse rig. A few bags, 

 cases, and bundles of supplies were loaded 

 into the big wagon together with a large bolt 

 of tent cloth and a coil of rope. At four 

 o'clock two mules and a horse were brought 

 to the front of the outfitters' stores, and we 

 were told to mount our steeds. 



I found that instead of "the finest saddle 

 horse in the Yukon," which Dickson had 



