72 THE UPPER YUKON 



one iota and the next day I gave it up entirely 

 and made the Chief change things around and 

 give me Billie again. I was indeed glad to 

 mount Billie once more, as he was as easy to 

 ride as a rocking-chair, and he was the quick- 

 est walker and the best runner of the whole 

 bunch of animals. There was no doubt that 

 Charley was a fine horse, but he had been eat- 

 ing too plentifully of grass all summer and his 

 body was as round as a barrel. 



The fourth day after leaving the lake we 

 were given a chance to see some big game. 

 On one of the high mountains a bunch of four 

 sheep was seen and their immaculately clean, 

 white coats looked handsome and unique 

 against the dark background of some jack 

 pines near a patch of green grass which they 

 were feeding upon. But instead of being 

 rams with big horns, as they appeared to us 

 when first seen, they were only ewes. 



The Chief led us across a river, then up 

 stream for four miles, and we plunged into a 

 rather thick forest of spruce and jack pines. 

 A slightly marked trail led us up through the 

 timber belt at a sharp pitch. Arrived at the 

 summit, we came to a large grassy basin slop- 

 ing down a bit on all sides so that in the center 

 we found the bed of a dried-up pond. Here 



