44 CAMP FIRES IN THE YUKON 



of breath, we hurried through the timber with a 

 very poor footing of moss, through which we would 

 sink every step into the watery muck beneath. 



Above timber line we stopped to take a look at 

 the sheep, which turned out to be ewes, and as they 

 had somewhat shifted their position we traveled up 

 a small gulch in plain sight of the band. Part of 

 the time we bent double in order to take advantage 

 of the screen of low willows, and in the clear places 

 we crawled along until we would reach another wil- 

 low patch. In this slow manner we came to the base 

 where the mountain rises abruptly into the clouds, 

 and from which point we were hidden from the 

 sheep, which as last seen were about fifteen hundred 

 feet above us. Now began the stalk up the tundra- 

 covered slope where our feet sank into the soft, 

 matted roots. Dixon, though about fifty years old, 

 traveled very fast, with the writer straining every 

 aching muscle to follow his rapid pace. The tundra 

 was soon left behind and we began to mount up the 

 rock slope. 



The writer was breathing like a steam-engine 

 and had absolutely reached the limits of his efforts 

 when we arrived at the level where the sheep had 

 last been seen, and could go no farther without stop- 

 ping to rest, as heart was racing painfully and leg 

 muscles cramped under the strain of the ascent; yet 

 there was no time to rest as it was 9.20 P.M., the 

 sheep had stopped feeding and were going to the 



