380 



LIFE ON A YUKON TRAIL 



PLODDING t T P THE STIKINE ON SLEIhI I'.S 



During the early stages of the river journey we ordinarily made 

 the morning start between midnight and two o'clock a. m., in 

 order to get the advantage of an unbroken crust. It was dreary 

 work plodding on by the creaking sledges several hours before 

 daylight, the heavy snow of the broad river stretching out un- 

 invitingly in the gloom before us like some gray morass. It was 

 pleasant to think at these times that the whirling earth was 

 bringing the genial sun flying across the continent; pleasant to 

 think of Washington fully awake, of Chicago stirring uneasily - 

 in the sunrise of a new day. As our turn comes the forms of 

 the giant peaks to the east gain detail and color in the gray 

 pallor of the dawn. Soon the crests stand forth rosy against a 

 pale pink sky-line, and tidings of coming day are flashed to the 

 dark-green spruce forests that lie in shadow on the river's brink. 

 With the sun fully above the mountain crests the glare in the 

 valley becomes painful. The snowy expanse of the river and 

 its mountain walls glitters and scintillates with cruel brilliancy. 

 Every one becomes more or less affected with snow-blindness, 



