Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1897-11-18
ALASKA SEASONS.
The Changes Are Swift and Very
Marked

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. $3.50, ~. -. =
=. 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 t4en begin to appear. By
May 20 the river bursts it's bonds of ice
and floods the lowlands; ice, debris and
broken timber pouring, with grinding
noise, headlong toward the sea. For
at least 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 to the region or migrants from
the south, with startling suddenness
people the copses and pervade the air.
Vegetation springs into leaf and flower
at bound, and, with hardly hint of
spring, summer is upon us.
Mosquitoes, the pest of the north,
appear in clouds. Except in midstream,
or where brisk breeze is blowing, life
without a net and leather gloves is
misery. The Indians smear their faces
with u mixture of grease and charcoal,
andpaddlewith a smudge on a square of
turf in the bows of their birch canoes.
The caribou, moose and bear, driven
from the thiclxets, plunge into the river
FOR temporary respite. Curiously
enough, during three summers, black
lies and .midges, SO plentiful to the
eastward, were encountered only once
N the Yukon; possibly, near it's head
waters, our luck would have been worse.
The records show that the lower. Yu-
xon 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. d. ~
Frosts appear in mid-September.
EaEly 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 mepaces the large
population now pouring into the dis
trict. The upper Yukon is a country
where subsistence has always been diff
ficult. 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 ira
dition be reliable, forced to support life
by cannibalism before it could reach
help. In 1865 not more than 800. 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 it's present
population. 1t seems improbable that
any large proportion fthe people nov
hurrying over the Chilkat portage car
transporter indeed they possess--food
enough to carry them over the winter
and up to the arrival of summer 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 region
whose limitations they do not realize
Fortunately, tits likely that many Of
those least.prepared for the undertake
ing will never get over the divide, ant
will be obliged to remain in southeast
er Alaska, where the rush to Klondikt
will have left open many opportunities
for employment. Were it otherwise
A 49, = I. u. : IL