Evening star., 1926-04-17

up 200 yards across the niggerheads
in the Tundra before we could stop
them. 1t took all of 10 minutes to get
them back on the trail
Spend Night in Open.
We went about a quarter of mile
farther through the darkness, when
we found a small clump of fir. Here
we built big fire, made a pot of tea
and ate a few hardtack and crawled
into the sleeping bags, with nothing
but the fir trees between us and the
stars.
A great Easter day for us. We felt
neither peace on earth nor good will
toward any man.
o'clock and on the way in a short
time. There were no preliminaries of
breakfast or other preparations for
the day. We were 13 miles from
Unalakleet and about miles from the
river.
We made the trip in and reached
the village in the forenoon. The ice
on the surface of the riven began to
work to the disadvantage of the dogs
feet and there began more trouble
which has added to our burdens since.
From that day to this we have
used something like $50 worth of dog
moccasinS u the going rate of 81 a
dozen. In spite of his precaution we
have left virtually trail OF blood
behind US.
We rested for the balance of the
day at Unalakleet and worked on the
sore feet Of the dogs and our own
much sorer ones.
From Uralalileet the trail led for
about 81 miles over bare tundra to
the shores of Norton Sound at a
place called Foothills. In addition to
the hare tundra there was range of
mountains to he crossed.
We were advised that it would be
impossible for us to drag the load we
cary across that tundra mountain
with our dogs.
Acting on this advice we employed
a native hoy with team to take
about half the load and pilot us
across.
The advice was all correct. Had
we attempted the trip alone l have
no doubt we now would be somewhere
between Unalakleet and Foothills.
AS it was. I took a plunge into the
icy waters of 4 creek up to my waist
and was forced to stop out on the
open tundra md change my clothes.
We reached the cabin of the native
at Foothills about o'clock in the
evening, and after a hearty meal of
caribou steak and trimmings felt a
little better. From that point on
our going has been steadily i'm
proved but the wear on the feet of
the poor dogs has been terrible.
From Foothills to the village OF
Shaktolik. a distance of about 80
miles, the trail leads along the beach
of Norton Bay and the going was
comparatively easy.
We stayed in the cabin OF half
breed Russian and native at Shak-
tonk and the next day made our
longest run in a day of the entire
trip so far. From Shaktolik tn the
village of Koyuk. at the mouth of the
Koyuk River, is a distance of about
55 miles, leading directly across
Norton Sound and there is no staked
trail.
We took 2 native boy as a guide
from the village of Shaktolik few
miles until he could point out for us
the landmarks to follow. The only
difficulty we had in the days journey
was the sore feet of the dogs. We
put on moccasins until along IN the
Afternoon, when they ran out and
the dogs had to make the best of il
until we reached Koyuk. Here we
put up for the nlgpt at the cabin OF
q native. callSi 6ls Sam, and con-
tinued our journey to Candle the
next morning.
Copyright, 1896 by the New York Times
through Current News Features.
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