FEARS OF BEING ICE-BOUND. 225 



them. We should then have had before us a 



weary tramp across country to the nearest 



station on the Yukon, and should undoubtedly 



have had to endure very great hardships from 



hunger and cold, as we could not have carried 



either blankets or much food with us, nor, 



in all probability, have shot anything in the 



thick forests except occasional hares and 



grouse. 



It was a great disappointment having to leave 



our hunting ground so soon, for had we been 



able to remain in the mountains for another 



week or ten days I should have had a very 



good chance of finding bears at one or other of 



the carcases of the moose I had shot, and 



might also in that time have come across 



another moose with a big head, or a herd of 



caribou or some sheep rams. However, none 



of us cared to run the risk of getting frozen in 



before reaching the Yukon, so we at once set to 



work to get down to the canoes, to prepare for 



a start down the river as soon as possible, and 



in the circumstances I was obliged to leave my 



two smaller pairs of moose horns behind, as well 



15 



