New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-02-13


that the toe remains fixed while the rest Of the foot
moves mp and down in the usual manner OF course,
.ae great object IN using them Is TO dlnuse your
whOie weight over large surface ana they are nsu-
nily OF good length sometimes five and hall feet
lohgand upward. An average length is four and
nan feet. All used in this part of the country are
oehinc They are made OF birch-wood, covered at
elther md with a fine network of gut; the ashngs
Tor the loot are strips Of hide V. 4faa.I s.,
We travelled N. N Il. magnetic. and followed pretty
closely the base Of the Uluknk Mountains Which ia
themselves are hills Of inconsderabe altitude MOI
usually exceeding 900 feet in hight they are how.
otherwise comparatively level. These mountains
run north and south for 100 miles One Of their out
full rounded fom. To the west were hills and noun
| taIns OF apparently greater altitude. ,stJa, 49,
We left the Versola Sofia" on the morning Of The
18th, and fndingth loads too great for our dogs IN
der the crcums ances we raised an erection OF pols
| and deposited some bags thereon. / may here saw
once for ALL that often left goods CONSISTING
] cellaneous items-scattered in this way over The
| country, and that they remained untouched bv the
Indians who frequently travelled past them, Il
same in st. James's Park! This DAYS travel was
| especially Troublesome the snow was deeper and
softer than before some little having recently fallen
and our sledges were perpetually npsetting In or
der to make Track for our dogs, we frequently with
! the Indian walked on ahead, returned and again
started forward thus going the ground tlree ,
times At night, after crossing stream still open.
| we came to small and very dlapidated Indian,
shanty not much better than an open camp. known
by the Russians as "lvanss barabban bousel Il WA
a very wretched place. and We found it temporarily
occupied by an Indian, with wife and child. WHOSE
apparent possessions no beggar could covet. Yet y
they appeared happy; for did they not know that On
the morrow the mares and ptarmigan could be shared
the deer hunted with little more ereItion, and that
IL they were positively hard up they could get all
thew wanted for subsistence at the nearest vlagos
A little tobacco and few tribes were gwen them,
and from them we obtained light sledge, standing
no more than Is inches above the ground 20 be USED
by us for transporting our blankets and light pos
NV first acquaintance with the Yukon, in common
with several of my companions, was made sliding
down the bank at the rate of Ito use an Amen.
canisrn) comfortably seated on my snow shoes AZ
such snow banks 1t is very common thing Tor TAO
sedge to shoot down faster than the dogs, who then
ret entaIgled in their harness run over and mashee
In the snow They frequently break loose az sucn
times. The driver often throws himself down, and
hangs on to the sledge 10 act as drag. In Siberia
as learnt from my friends who had wintered there
il is usual for the driver of sledge. when riding
on it, to have pole or stake which lac uses To IN
pede its progress driving 1T down INTO the snow every
few seconds. .. So ,.-
of snow brought to the Ingelete village OF Col
toy where we again made halt. aud stopped IN
one Of the largest The
This dwelling old 'Stareek," received US well, and
produced white ptamgan and berries. They were
unfortunately short Of dog-fed This Is one OIL tlie
constant drawbacks in travelling, and stands much
in the way of the transportation OF large quantltes
of goods The dogs, Of course, weaken quickly WIZ.
out regular feed. and very naturally prowi aDoss
when packed up in boxes or barrels are not very SAFE
where there are many dogs. The previous yeaf
they managed to burst open keg OF OIL, anu N n
very short time there was nothing left but few
scattered slaves and hoops; on this trlp one had
gorged himself on half ham. and was IN conse-
Quence very unweil. -, a., M,
both days being very gusty and stormy. Old " Star
eek" harangued his neighbors by the hour together
and they brought us fair amount OF supplies. The
moor old man-probably the oldest nhabitant OF
this district-wth his sbriyeled form, wrlnkieo
face long scattered hair stubby chin, and toothess
mouth. wagging about In the most uncertain an 9a
eccentric manner, was pitable object; but We made
his ancient heart rejoice BY presenting him with cot
ton-drill, powder. and balls, Our teams passing and
Constantly during Winter. In Stareek'sD house
several of the Indians slept on shelves or benches
built round the walls and by this means four or nvs
families were packed into one room. When canipsa
at these places after taking own meals. we IN
variably filled up the tea kettle, and handed rouna
to each of those natives who bad done US any
a cup of weak tea with little broken biscuit foat-
ing on the top of it. Some of them have acqureo
from the Russians taste for tea, but more especially
for sugar AS these things were not articles Of Trade
a taste Of either, do / believe that tea, per .,
was much cared for by them, but that they simply
We started up the Yukon on the 18th. An occa-
siona patch of open water, running perhaps at the
rate of three knots hour. alone showed us that
almost made US forget that we were on sheet OF
ice. The river winds considerably, and our course
was often therefore frem one point OF land 70
another. We several times crossed from Dank 70
bank TO cut eli corners and bends and. although We
met with some distractions from masses or leo e.
all forms and shapes piled wildly and irreguiariy
around travelling was on the WHOLE v i9s sSns
on the river. and islands Of som6er green lores'
studded it in all directions. We made abont % miles
then camped in new but empty indian indian noI Ts
known by the Russians as AnkoH DsLaDoA AkS
temperature at sunset was = fanr'
On the morning of the 18th we rose early, and.
after travelling seven miles or So met large tram
of sledges accompanied by several Russians and In
dams. They had been sent down by the head man.
or "bidarshik of Nuato, to transport their own
Winter supplies, and to assist us. AS twas arranged
that some OF our men a sng s
turned round, and went back with us. After about
eight miles travel reached Nulato, our destna-
ton, and made grand entry with much noise and
fun. and the firing of innumerable discharges. All
hands helped the sledges up the incline leading uD
to The station, and few. minutes later we were
lunching at the bdarshik's" table salt-fish
and bread. 1t need not be said that the "samovarS
had been prepared as they sighted US In tho
distance. The poorest Russian never neglects the
sacred rite of hospitality, and we pledged each other
in massive cups Of strong tea. Later IN the day We
had something stronger.
Nulato is the most inland. and also most northern
of all the Russian Fur Companys posts; on lagos
kins g. spsSty IT, IN iss on IL M s ane n ,Op
bank of the Yukon. and is situated on fiat stretch
of comparatively open land, bounded on the south
west by the Nulato River o tributary Of the fukoa
"a stream one Of whose mouths is at least 70 yards
in width.
Our supply of water was obtained from hole keys
constantly opener rs open as nature would AorH
60 be-through the ice of the Yukon, at distance
% quarter of mile from the post The Wsas
sledeep was one of tho institutions of the place asd
large barrel was taken down and filed with wstet
and good deal Of broken ice-and brought back "a
the supply Of the station 1t was generally draes
by men and sometimes by Indian women, As y
would have taken more dogs than the place possess
to move it. ul .L;.s
In November and December succeeded IN naklss