CAMP FIRES IN THE YUKON 49 



the cooking and baking progresses the rest of us are 

 disposed upon boxes, and upon Bones' bunk, or on 

 some bear skins on the floor, variously engaged in 

 smoking, greasing our boots, writing our diary, or 

 talking about various wild animals we have known. 

 Bones tells a remarkable story of a black wolf that 

 has been following him about for a number of 

 months, and which howls upon his trail at night, and 

 which he has seen within one hundred yards of his 

 camp several times. Fisher thinks the wolf is lonely 

 and is simply hanging around " for company sake "; 

 the rest of us, having had no experience with sociable 

 timber wolves, have no theories to advance and de- 

 cide we will get some sleep. 



August 75. It was nine-thirty by the time we had 

 all the horses packed with their loads, and to the 

 merry tinkling of many bells Bones led the way up 

 the narrow trail leading westward, while pack ani- 

 mals and hunters and guides on saddle horses strung 

 out in single file behind. The trail led through the 

 timber for nine miles until we came to the broad bot- 

 tom land covered with fine grass, through which 

 flows the Duke River, a noisy, glacial stream, which, 

 though rapid, was not too high this early in the day 

 to make crossing difficult. The bank of the Duke 

 rises almost straight up two hundred feet to a bench, 

 and it was almost unbelievable that pack horses 

 loaded with two hundred and fifty pounds each could 

 make the top on such a steep incline. 



