Evening star., 1898-02-12

in length, and pours its waters into the
Lewis at the rate of 2SS miles an hour.
From its junction with the Hootalinqua
the Lewis whirls along at five miles an
hour for thirty-three miles. until the Big
Salmon is reached. The latter river is
about go miles in length. Thirty-six miles
lower down comes the Little Salmon.
swift but smaller stream a hundred miles
or so in length. Next in order. but this
time from the west, the Nordenskiold en-
ters the Lewis. Below the Five-Ffnger
rapids for some distance the main river
travels at rate of six miles an hour. At
Fort Selkirk the Pelly enters with a five
mile current. Further down, White and
Sixty-Mile rivers pour in from the west,
and Stewart river from the east. The cur
rent of the Stewart is slack. but that of
the White river Is rot less than eight miles
an hour. The current of the Yukon then
Eoderates to about five miles an hour I
might have pointed out that in the upper
river the water dashes between the basal
tic walls OF Miles canon at 12k miles an
hour before converging at the White Horse
rapids. The river portion of the trip from
arol Sc the most sluggish temperament.
Hundreds of Miles of Ice.
But this very rapidity makes the river
route a most difficult one for winter travel
The shore ice forming in the lakes with
the first freeze up becomes detaaned and
is whirled down stream In thousands OF
cakes of all sizes and shapes. The falling
snow is caught in eddies and rolled into
great disks of slush. which the first frost
converts into hard and dangerous masses
When we passed the Tahkenna on Novem-
ter 5 it was pouring its apparently un-
limited ribbon of ice into the Lewis. On
the 9th we reached the Hootalinqua and
found 1t discharging its hundreds Of miles
OF ice cakes with considerable velocity.
From this point the slush ice piled up SO
rapidly on the oars and SO clogged the
sides of the boats that further progress
became very difficult. On the 18th we
encountered the ice of the Little Salmon
as well The channel Of the main river
was now full of whirling ice cakes, the
sides of the boats had been worn thin
with the sharp surface ice Of the lakes
and further progress became dangerous
If not impossible.
On the 18th the ice began to jam at vari-
GUS points along the river. and ten miles
below the Big Salmon John ]. Freeman Of
Seattle was sucked under a jam and
drowned. Several boats loaded with pro-
visions disappeared at the same time. On
the night of the Goth, in an hours time,
the water rose seven feet along the river.
sweeping away all boats that had not
been drawn hign up on the bank. 1t was
evident that the ice was jamming along
the whole course of the Yukon. During
the night the roar and din Of the ice battle
out on the dark river kept us awake In
camp. Millions of tons Of ice, hurled by
the furious current crashed and thun-
dered against billions of tons lodged on
the shoals or driven back by the ice be-
low. All night this terrific war of natures
giants was carried on with mad fury, and
next morning we beheld the trail over
which the refugees fleeing from Dawson
are compelled to drag their weary footsteps
and loaded sleds!
Ice Jams Twenty Feet High.
I need not attempt to describe its ap-
pearance. For hundreds of miles the sur
face of the Lewis and Yukon rivers con-
sists of the ice of lakes and rivers stood
up on end. That is all I need say. At
some points the jams are from ten to
twenty feet high, at some five feet and
for great deal of the distance from one to
two feet. Over this those who make up
the vanguard from Dawson had to make
their way.
The first to PASS the Little Salmon on
their way out presented pitiable appear
ance They had left Dawson City on No
vember with sled and 40 pounds Of
provisions to each man. When 165 miles
cut the sled had to be discarded and
most of their blankets, clothes and shoes
thrown away. They had then tramped 125
backs all the provisions they could carry
and a blanket each to save them from
freezing. They had still to make 2s5 miles
to Dyea in the same way, struggling and
clambering over the ice during the day
and sleeping out in the open air at night,
the thermometer often at 60 degrees be-
lew zero. and nothing but blanket each
and a fire OF spruce and poplar between
them ard death by freezing; one or more
of the partners sleeping while watcher
remained up to heap wood upon the nre.
Suffering on the Trntl.
Such has been the experience Of many Of
those compelled by threatened starvation
to "hit the trail" Charles McGonagle
res ched Little Salmon with a leg severely
frozen, another man suffering from scurvy.
another with an arm badly frozen, dozens
of others with frost-bitten faces. hands
and feet, and a poor fellow named Byrne
lies now in a cabin near Five Finger Rapids
with both legs amputated below the knees.
This man hobbled twenty-five miles over
the ice with no action in his legs from the
ankles down and portion of a frozen toe
broken off, where a worn-out moccasin
allowed it to coma against the ice.
Many reached the Little Salmon almost
destitute-one party Of four with half
dried meat between them. Fortunately,
the government posts there and at Big Sal
mon and the people camped along the river
have been able to give considerable relief
and avert mora serious diseases. The hor-
rors of the march out from Dawson as
they were experienced by many will be
listened to with thrilling interest at many
firesides for years to come Broken-down
constitutions will in som. cases tell the
tale, where no perceptible mark of suffer-
Ing has yet appeared
AS over three hundred have already
passed the halfway point, the condition Of
the trail has greatly improved. A few
snow falls and stray clips from passing
axes have had their effect. Paths over
sicughs have been discovered, and long
strips of dead water protected from the
current by projecting points along the
stream afford good travelling With the
falling of the water along the shores and
caving In of the ice, new strips of water
nave come to the surface and been frozen
over. The result is that many with dog
teams ara now coming out at twenty miles
a day. carrying provisions for the trip. a
tent, small sheet-iron stove and robes
enough to travel in comparative comfort
Most fortunately, although In November
90 degrees below zero was not uncommon.
we have throughout December enioyei
such mild weather that travel over the
trail Is now much more easy to endure
Had the very cold weather Of Novemher
continued. unquestionably many deaths
from freezing would have occurred.
Spring Outlook in Dawson.
But while the movement from Dawson
is becoming much more easy of accom-
plishment, it must not be imagined that
1t is possible to reach the diggings with
any large quantity of provisions over
this route. All that has yet been dem
onstrated is that man or a party OF men
can carry enough provisions by dog sleixh