28 CAMP FIRES IN THE YUKON 



the camp fire until the coals died down and the night 

 chill drove us to the warmth of our sleeping robes. 



To get up with the sun in this Northland is to 

 stay up nearly all night, which no one ever thinks of 

 doing. I have no data on the rising hour of the 

 sun, but my diary shows that on the morning of 

 August 7 we were awakened by the call of Bruce : 

 " Muck-a-muck, muck-a-muck," which is Siwash talk, 

 meaning " something to eat." We rolled out of 

 our eiderdown, to find the sun shining brightly even 

 if coldly upon a frosty landscape. Force of habit 

 is strong, so we plunged our heads into the pond, 

 manipulated the tooth brush, used a comb on our 

 hair, and dove into the oatmeal, ham and eggs, and 

 bread spread out on the ground exposed to our as- 

 saults. The horses were caught, given a feed of 

 oats and harnessed, and we made an early start. 



The going is rather fair, as we are traveling on 

 the winter stageroad from White Horse to Dawson, 

 which is utilized to transport freight and passengers 

 on sledges after the freeze-up ends steamer naviga- 

 tion on the Yukon. The country is not interesting 

 as the route is largely through small timber, wind- 

 ing around the sides of small hills to slow up our 

 progress. We walked frequently this day, and 

 about eleven in the morning reached Tahkini River, 

 a rapidly flowing stream with an automatic ferry 

 which the Canadian Government considerately main- 

 tains for those who use the road. 



