The Republican., 1897-10-14
SUMMER AND WINTER IN ALASKA
Swift Changes of Seasons in the
Northern Cline.

of course, utterly unsuitable, and can |
be worn only at serious risk when trav- |
cling. Indian snowshoes are essential; |
the Norwegian variety proved worth |
less.
As the season advances the snow set |
ties, and at night a firm crust forms. |
The most favorable months for travel |
ing are March and April. The mid |
winter days are short, with sunlight in |
some ATTITUDES from ten in the morning
to three in the afternoon. When nee
essary, one can travel fairly well by
starlight and moonlight over the snowy
tundra, but not in the woods. In May
the snow is wet and heavy and travel
difficult. Pools of water and the first
mosquitoes then begin to appear. BY
May 20 the river bursts its bonds of ice
and floods the lowlands; ice, debris and
broken timber pouring, with grinding
noise, headlong toward the sea. For
at least a week navigation is impossible.
Summer, swift-footed, trips upon the
heels of winter. The sun pours down
with a violence not soon forgotten,
though in the shade it is always cool.
The cry of the brant, northward bound,
is continually heard, and myriads of
smaller water fowl appear on every
hand. All the minor forms of life,
| native t9 the region or migrants from
fthe south, with startling suddenness
| people the copsss and pervade the air
| Vegetation springs into leaf and flower
at bound, and, with hardly a hint of
| spring, summer is Spon us.
Mosquitoes, the pest of the north,
appear in clouds. Except in midstream,
or where a brisk breeze is blowing, life
without a net and leather gloves is
misery. The Indians smear their faces
with a mixture of grease and charcoal,
and paddle with smudge on square of
turf in the bows of their birch canoes.
| The caribou, moose and bear, driven
from the thiclets, plunge into the river
for a temporary respite. Curlously
enough, during three summers, black
flies and midges, so plentiful to the
eastward, were encountered only once
on the Yukon; possibly, near its head
waters, our luck would have been worse.
The records show that the lower Yu
kon valley has summer temperature
much in excess of that normal to the
latitude. As the days are long, the
traveller will prudently sleep at noon
and utilize for his work the cooler
hours when the sun sweeps low along
the northern horizon and the mos
quitoes are less active.
Frosts appear in md-September.
Early in October the Yukon begins to
be covered with ice; though it is not
fully ice-bound until late in November.
So the round is completed
One serious danger menaces the large
population now pouring into the dis
trict. The upper Yukon is a country
where subsistence has always been diff
fcult. The first party which ever
reached it-that under Robert Camp
bell, of the Hudson Bay company, who
named the Pelly river-though COM
posed of seasoned voyagers, was, if tra-
dition be reliable, forced to support life
by cannibalism before it could reach
help. In 1866 not more than 300 In
dams were able to find subsistence be-
tween Fort Yukon and Fort Selkirk
The abundant fish and game of the low
er Yukon are absent. The river steam
ers available for transportation cannot
during the remainder of the present
season, carry up to Dawson City much
more food than will supply its present
population. 1t seems improbable that
ny large proportion of the people no"
hurrying over the ChiIllat portage car
transport-if indeed they possess-fooC
enough to carry them over the winter
and up to the arrival of GUNNER sup
plies from the lower Yukon.
, Serious hardships. and even probable
starvation, therefore, confront the
: rash and foolhardy who push forward
without proper supplies into a region
whose limitations they do not realize
! Fortunately, it is likely that many o
those least prepared for the undertak
ing will never get over the divide, ant
will be obligeS to remain in southeast
er Alaska, where the rush to Klondill
will have left open many opportunitie
: for employment. We're it otherwise
the coming winter and spring woult
) probably furnish material for tragedy
: Even as it is, the circumstances offe
ground for grave pprehensions.-Wil
liam Healy Dali, in Forum.
i, Why People Forget Names.
a Many persons are especially forgetfu
! with regard to names. They are EN-