88 THE UPPER YUKON 



careful descent was made and, the wind being 

 right when the canyon was crossed, we left 

 Charley and Billie tethered in a spot covered 

 with rich grass, and commenced the climb on 

 foot, going up on the right side of the moun- 

 tain, as it looked the easiest to climb. The 

 going was fairly good until the deep snow was 

 reached, and then we slipped and stumbled 

 — sometimes sliding down more than we 

 climbed. We did not expose ourselves to 

 the quarry when the top was nearly won, but 

 by going around and behind a ledge of rocks 

 we managed to rise above where we had ex- 

 pected to find the animals. However, they 

 had fled. Their tracks in the snow showed 

 that we should find them down on the other 

 side of the divide. Cautiously dodging be- 

 hind rocks as we followed the trail, we finally 

 located them near the top of still another 

 divide, out of range of a Mannlicher rifle. If 

 they should succeed in crossing the second 

 range, we would lose them altogether, as the 

 conformation of the ground would, if we fol- 

 lowed them, bring them in line with our scent. 

 I told the Chief that the only chance to bring 

 them to a halt and probably to start them 

 back down the elevation rather than over it, 

 was to fire a few shots. This I did. The 



