The record-union., 1898-07-20

aged, as they have to pay one cent per
pound to get their goods boated to Sum
rise City. There are many discour
aged people returning without ever
stickingTa pick in the ground. A party
of twenty six.sfrom Sacramento were
humbugged here. The leader claimed
he knew good diggings and would lead
them to the place. But he was only
getting up the party for the benefit Of
the Navigation Company, for which he
was we'll paid. He tried to get our
party while we were in Sacramento, but
the boys We're not looking for such a
good thing. He slipped away from his
party here to save his neck, as they
were going to hang him.
We have our boat built and launched.
We named it "Great Horn-Spoon," and
it will carry 1900 pounds.
May 21-Four of us started in our
boat for a trip to prospect and hunt.
1t was a bright, sunny afternoon, and
the water on the Arm" was very calm.
We took our sleeping bags and kitchen
box, with plenty of provisions, and with
ammunition packed in our boat we were
ready to go as soon as the tide began
to flood. We had to travel against the
tide for a few hundred yards, until We
reached the main channel. Three of
us at the oars had all we could do to
pull the boat out of the channel. When
we reached that we travelled with the
tide until We came to Quartz Creek,
where we camped at IL p. m. It was
not yet dark, but we cut boughS and
put under our beds, as the ground was
too wet TO sleep on.
In the morning we were up to start
with the tide The water was so rough
the sail would lurch the boat over and
the water would break over the Sides
We took our sail down as soon as pos
sible We were soon across the arm,
as we had wind and tide with us.
After drifting along the shore for a
mile or two we landed and waited for
the next tide to go up the mouth of
Twenty River. While waiting we
went out walking and killed six porcu
pines for dog food.
At p. m the tide came rushing in.
We pushed out into the current and
soon reached the mouth of the river
The water was so swift that we had to
tow the boat up the river, one man
staying in it to keep it off the bank
The rest would walk along the sandbars
we got to the end of the bar we would
get in and row to another bar. At 8
p. m. we pulled our boat alongside the
bank and landed. 1t was poor place
to camp, as we had no boughs to put
under our beds, so had to pull old dry
grass. But we slept well just the
same.
The next day we towed the boat up
cty mn
we reached our first claim, early in the
afternoon. We prospected around the
gravel bank, found a few colors, and
located another claim near by.
We camped in the remains of an old
log cabin. 1t began te rain, and the
mosquitoes were so thick we slept but
little, 1t rained all next day. but we
went on up the river, which was ris-
ing with the rain. There was a con-
tinued roar of snowslides on each side
of the river, and small cakes of ice
came floating down from the glacier
above. The current was getting very
swift, making it hard to tow the boat.
We tugged along until IL a. M, and
were so hungry We stopped for dinner
Everything near us was swamp. We
had hard time to make a fire. Then
we had to spread a canvas to keep the
rain off. We then decided it was i'm
possible to go to our other claim, which
was four miles farther up. We had
come eighteen miles up the river.
We turned our boat toward home
| and with one man at the oars the boat
fairly flew. In an hour we were be-
low where we camped the night before,
| and seeing a good place we landed. 1t
was still raining, but we soon had
some boughs cut and the canvas spread
for our beds. In the morning I found
I had been lying in a puddle Of water,
but it did not wake me. We broke
camp and came along lively to the rap
ids. We passed over them and very
quickly, too, and soon reached the
| mouth of the river and returned to
camp on the ebb tide
| On May 29th we took down our tent,
| cleared off the snow and ice under
meath, cut logs and laid them around
(same a. a log house,, three logs high
Then we hoisted our tent on these logs
and piled brush around the back for a
windbreak We made a platform for
our stove, also table, and some three
| legged stools, and now we have fine
| camp. RALPH I. MURPHY.