Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

148 HISTORY OF THE BANKportage was long and rough and the day very hot, and itwasshortly after noon before the foot of the rapids was leftbehind. During the day a dog-driver, named Langdon, andhis team were engaged to assist in any further hauling of thesled and canoe, with its heavy cargo, over the ice. The riverturns and bends continually, with a current like a mill-raceand with many submerged rocks, some of which were grazedby the canoe, but without causing any mishap. The skill ofthe dogs in trailing the party along the banks of theriver was marvellous. Owing to the rapid current theywere left far behind soon after the start, and that day no stopwas made until a very late hour. Some time during thenight all five dogs trotted into camp, despite the fact that ithad been pitched on the opposite bank of the river.On May 30 an early start was again made down the river.Big bush fires were raging on both banks, and the dense smokeand the large sparks lighting on the canoe proved very troublesome.Lake Laberge was soon reached, and after paddlingabout seventeen miles the party ate lunch on a large island inthe centre of the lake. Here the water was good and this was agreat treat after the gritty evil-tasting stuff which had beenall that could be procured for some days past. While theywere on the island a man was rowed over to them in a scow inorder to find out whether they had any medicine. He wasalmost helpless, owing to a bad attack of scurvy. He called it"blackleg" and insisted on showing its ravages. He waspurple up to his loins, and did not look as though he couldlive to see Dawson. Yet he could not go back against thecurrent, and so had to try to go on, until finally he reachedDawson. Some months later, when he came into the officethere in good health, none of the party knew him, for helooked fully twenty years younger. After lunch the old gameof breaking a way through rotten ice was renewed and kept upuntil eleven o'clock at night, when such sleep as the mosquitoespermitted was secured. These pests were by far the mostsavage and numerous yet encountered, and no precautions