The herald., 1897-11-29
cut as we slowly headed for the Five
Finger rapids. nifty miles further up the

A&0 4AN0x0
cut as we slowly headed for the Five
Finger rapids, nifty miles further up ths
Yukon.
I'VE had five horses, one Of which was
at my disposal when cared to ride. The
trail kept so bad that on the second day
Dalton and two other men went back te
Selkirk and brought a canoe to which
we transferred the packs. thus greatly
tightening the horses. On the third
morning the horses were swum across
the Yukon. on the further side Of which
there was a fair trail. One of the ami.
mails drowned almost the moment he en-
tered the water, indicating great weak
ness. Feed was scarce. and the ami
mails, reindeer like, had to paw down ir
the snow to get 1t. 1t showed of and or
for two days, and more was constantly
threatening. On the third day 1t seemed
that further snowfalls might make this
trail impossible for anything like rapid
travel. Two feet already lay on the
level. Under these circumstances, and
with over 300 miles of land travel before
us. Dalton strongly urged us to go back
to Selkirk. But we refused, and for
very good reasons. My son and had
already contributed all our provisions
and single pound was not to be had at
Selkirk. The Yukon was almost closed
with ice, too. There was, therefore, no
apparent hope that we could get hack
to Dawson. and even If there, nothing
was to be had to eat. To go on was
therefore. the only wise course. we
thought. Without food, life at Selkirk
would have been like a living death. The
trail on the left hand side of the river
was a constantly rolling one; the
weather was continuously gloomy
showing some, and always threatening
more. Near Five Finger rapids the
horses swan the river again, and We
pushed on up the right bank to Cor
mack's post twenty-five miles, where
we left the Yukon. without any possi-
bility Of turning back. Six days over
very rough country, but with no new
snow, brought us to Hootchy- Eye, rs
miles, where there were three deserted
Indian cabins.
"Mr. Dalton had a cache of provisions
there, but 1t had all disappeared, except
one sack of flour, five pounds of sugar,
and thirty pounds of bacon. Fortunately
all of our food was not out. or we would
have been in very bad fix. The next
cache was at Dalton post, a hundred
miles further on. The next day VIC
passed through country bare of timber,
in very gloomy. wind-threatening
weather. On the summit of the sur
rounding mountains heavy gales and
snow were prevailing. Dense clouds, as
black as the blacklist smoke, were seen;
they looked as though vast confiagra-
tion had started.
IA more gloomy or forbidding sight
could hardly have been seen outside of
Tartarus. Bad water beyond Hootchy-
Eye poisoned most of the party, causing
severe and frequent cramps, with hem
orrhages. In addition to this I had
severe attack of lumbago. The first day
I was lashed in an Indian freight tobog-
gan. In thus being pulled over the trail
my back and every rough spot in 1t were
brought In violent contact, making the
intense pain much more intense. The
next day I rode and walked and on the
third day I walked altogether. A por-
tion Of the time on that day, although on
my feet and keeping up with the process
sion, I was unconscious from pain. We
got only two meals a day on the entire
trip, breakfast always in the dark be-
tween 5 and 6, and dinner between 4 and
5. The short daylight and the difficulty
OF packing provisions did not allow of
stops for midday meals. A meal at Dali
tons post, which we reached in six days
from Hootchy-Eye, composed Of canned
corned beef, bread baked by Dalton and
can of cold tomatoes had in it such
physical strength, comfort and satisfac-
ton that strains blown from far-off sun
set lands or the music Of Eolian harps
could not have been more soothing. The
horses were left here, two died on the
way, but three new ones, strays, were
picked up. Thirty miles from the post
was another base of Dalton's supplies in
two tents. We should have reached this
place, called the cache, on the second
day. We walked from 1880 a. m. until
after 7 p m., three hours past daylight,
without reaching shelter timber or with
out reaching the cache. We then lost the
trail Dalton was still behind at the
post. A night spent far within the Arc
tic regions could not have been more des-
olately exposed, though, Of course, 1t
could have been colder. The thermome-
ter was about twenty degrees below zero
and the wind made it vastly worse. Four
of the party were partially frozen in
their feet during the night.
Next morning we found, much to our
disgust, that we had been only three
quarters of a mile from the cache. Next
day by moonlight, very early. we were
off for the first summit. for there were
two to cross. The first has an elevation
of 2SOO feet, the second is 900 feet lower.
The pace was running walk and the
course largely over smooth ice. l got
some very bad falls on it. After crossing
this summit the worst Of our troubles
were over and we were within forty
miles Of Chilkat. 1 had for forty days
been on icy, up-river work for 200 miles
and by land for over 300, pushing on in
very poor condition, in unceasing work,
a portion of the time, too, in intense pain.
Part of the time I did not in the least
care whether lived or died. Had been
assured any morning of the trip that l
would be dead before night l would with
none the less appetite have eaten my
full share of bacon and beans and drunk
my coffee in contentment.
"On the last day 1 did not walk, but
gladly rode in an Indian sleigh on the
ice of the Chilkat river.
1--WE entered the world again on the
forty-second day from Dawson"
A GLOOMY PROSPECT
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 2S.-The Call
has received, via steamer City of Seattle,
letter from it's correspondent, Sam
Wall, who succeeded in reaching Daw-
son City on September 25th after per-
ilous trip in small boat from Fort Yu-