Arizona weekly citizen., 1892-05-28

hares gnawing bark for food, and some-
 times to an extent that killed the tree.
 The various ages Of he different gravy
 ingS tfor l think it is only done when
 the snow is on the ground) was appar-
 tnt, and, I supposed, indicates the
 depth of the snow during the different
 winter seasons. If so, it is not very
 great at any time, certainly not enough
 to interfere with stock-raising, while
 the woods would give ample
 protection in the coldeSt winds
 There were many burnt timber tracts
 passed by us that day, but they were
 small. The maximum injury by fire to
 an unsettled or thinly settled region is
 reached in either a densely timbered
 country or one perfectly open, as our
 great western plains In happy mean
 between the two the trees are not close
 enough to assist the confiagratiou with
 out the help of the strong wind, while
 the grass is not high, dense or dry
 enough to aid it in that way. As
 usual in open countries thls Indian trail
 often scattered to an extent that no
 definite path could be seen. the natives
 simply following general direction.
 Through a denSelY wooded or rough
 mountainous country full of impedi-
 ments to the pedestrian an Indian trail
 is always much plainer marked for the same amount of travel than an open one. In fact there IS no essential diff ference between an Indian trail and a game trail of migratory animals, and 1
 have seen we'll versed frontiersmen
 study as to which kind certain pa tn could be. Twelve cases out of dozen,
 l believe, an assertion on either side
 would be correct and the trail is used indfferently by the game or human animal, the only difference being the
 Indians have a sort of right of way
 in using it whenever they want, while game will not travel it while the scent of the former is yet clinging to it rom a recent trip. That afternoon we came to a profusion of light-colored moss that in natives and frontiersmen here call caribou moss, A characteristic of this is in it's always being moist whatever may be. the state of the weather and to this is attributed its palatability to the ami maj from which it derived its name
 It was nearly before we went into camp, but as far as wearIness was con- eerned, felt as if could walk the rest of the night.
 That night mosquitoes were much more numerous than they had been along the river. Even worse than the mosquitoes, however, was the sing ing of one of my packers, who was a whole light opera in himself. his re- per, oire beginning and ending at the Celtic Laundress' and which he kept humming far into the night, but not far from my bed. The humming of the mosquitoes was much less irritating
 Just before noon we passed over a slope southward-facing that was almost covered with strawberries. At the same time bunch of spruce grouse was flushed in the bottom near by but they were so very wild that none were secured. Reaching the Strawberry creek la funny name for a sub-Arctic stream) we saw few grayting in it and some were caught with fly by the | white men, the Indians securing a few with poles and clubs
 Whenever we came to a deep creek a log bridge would have to be built to | enable the dogs to cross without wet | ting their loads. Even in the shal- | lower crossing they had to be watched ! for if the dog was warm and they were | they would lie down in the ! water to cool off That day, July 10, | was particularly bad on the dogs on account of the fallen timber that lay nearly everywhere across the trail, and composed mostly of | small logs that were greater obstacles | to the canine packers than larger | timber would have been. The even- Ing's camp was near a clear stream and | R fair mess of grayling were caught These fine game fish are ip every clear stream on the head of the Yukon that | has yet been investigated and without any reference to the muddiness of the stream through which they | must have passed to reach the clear We now began encounter ing an obstacle to pedestrianism that is common in interior Alaska and ad- joining regions. I refer to sort of coarse bunch grass that affects marshy 1 places, which, when dry and black, shrivels up into clumps called ''nigger heads" by whites, Of course there are many variations in these with the common characteristic of always ap- bearing worse than the varieties met | before. Next forenoon we climbed high ridge 1,S00 feet above our morn- ng's camp. The afternoons journey gan be condensed into moose brush and | By sunset we had seen so many fresh game signs that we felt |