A WINTER'S DAY IN THE YUKON TERRITORY. 219 
of the peninsula of Aliaska and the islands north of the St. 
Matthew group. The other includes the coast and islands 
south and east of Kadiak, while the Aleutian Islands, with 
the group of St. Paul and St. George, are somewhat inter- 
mediate, being nearly as warm as the southern or Sitkan 
district, and much less rainy. 
This article will refer only to the northern district, which 
I have called the Yukon Territory. This is the coldest and 
most inhospitable part of the country, yet it is far from 
resembling Labrador or Greenland, although the winter 
weather may occasionally be very cold. The summers are 
much warmer and more pleasant than in Labrador, and may 
be compared to those of the Red River district of the Hud- 
son Bay Territory. 
At the first thought one would hardly suppose that a natu- 
ralist would find much to do in the depth of winter, unless 
it were to sit by his great Russian oven or stove, and keep 
himself warm. I would invite the readers of the NATU- 
RALIST to accompany me on a day’s tramp, similar to.many 
which I have undertaken without such pleasant company, 
and see how far their first anticipations will be realized. 
We will start from Ulokuk, an Indian village on the por- 
tage between the Yukon and Norton Sound, and bring up at 
Unaloklik, an Eskimo village on the coast, thirty miles away. 
We clothe ourselves in the comfortable costume of the 
country, consisting of a pair of warm American trousers; a 
deerskin hunting shirt with a hood, made with the hair on, 
trimmed with wolf or wolverine skin, and fastened by a belt 
around the waist; a good mink-skin cap with ear-lappets; a 
pair of otter-skin mittens ; and a pair of long Indian deerskin 
boots with soles of sealskin, tied around the ankle and just 
below the knee, and having a bunch of straw below the foot 
to keep it warm, dry, and safe from contusions. Our equip- 
ment will consist of our guns, a geological hammer, a good 
sheath-knife, a small axe, teakettle, bag of biscuit and dry 
salmon, and a pair of long snowshoes apiece. 
