CAMP FIRES IN THE YUKON 29 



A stout steel cable, fifteen feet above the river 

 surface, is stretched from shore to shore, and ropes 

 attached to windlasses on both ends of the sixty-foot 

 ferry barge lead to two steel pulleys which run 

 freely upon the cables, as trolley wheels on a wire. 

 When the barge is loaded you wind up the front 

 windlass a bit in order that the side of the barge 

 may be a little out of parallel with the steel cable 

 and the course a diagonal across the current but 

 heading slightly up-stream ; the current does the rest, 

 for, as it strikes the side of the barge, it propels the 

 craft forward until it slides into the mud on the 

 other bank, where you ease the wagon down the 

 gang-plank and continue among the hills. 



At high noon we stopped at a small pond and 

 turned the weary horses out to roll and to feed and 

 generally rest up for a couple of hours, during which 

 we cooked dinner and had our " muck-a-muck." 

 The small black flies were out by the millions with 

 an activity that was akin to that of the busy bee, and 

 head nets became decidedly in vogue. 



In the afternoon we left behind us the Dawson 

 trail and branched off to the westward on a less 

 frequently traveled wagon track. The pace, how- 

 ever, was faster, as we ceased plodding up hill and 

 down dale and consistently followed the valley of 

 the Takini River. In the late afternoon we crossed 

 over Little River, which is a rapid, rushing affair 

 of not much width and which seems to be the boun- 



